Shining Tears
by Mez10000
Summary: What is the part of the protozoa after the tree is revieved? A tale, not of the heroes of reunification, but of a special protozoa. Without him, the group may never have succeded...
1. Heartfelt Farewells

For those who know me and were following my previous fanfics: this is up later than I planned. If you must blame anyone, blame my History, Geography and language teachers (Two essays! One weekend! Do the math!).

I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

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_Approximately a decade after the revival of the Yggdrasil tree_

Lloyd came outside to speak to me. 'Me' being Noishe, the first life born in Symphonia and not – as _some_ have described me – a dog. I was – and still am – a protozoan, and until recently, I'd been the only one.

Lately though, there had been sightings of a pale blue arshis, although most humans didn't actually say it was a protozoan.

Looking at this human called Lloyd, I felt a surge of pride. I had helped raise him, and I'd kept him safe everyday. I had helped on his journey, and now he was fully-grown with a family of his own.

Some time after the tree had been named, he and Sheena had gone on a journey to collect all the Exspheres, during which, Lloyd had proposed. Now, they lived together inside Mizuho, and had a young daughter.

Sheena was standing beside Lloyd.

"Noishe, I've been thinking." Lloyd said.

Suddenly, I didn't feel happy and content anymore. I knew something was going to happen, something that I wouldn't like. I could see it in their eyes.

"Noishe. We heard that tree has started making Protozoa again." Sheena said in a kind tone.

"You should go. Find someone of your own kind. I know Kratos asked you to watch over me, but nothing will happen. Besides, who or what would try, with us living in Mizuho?"

But, I was happy. I was content. Don't send me away. Please.

"Noishe, you can always visit us, okay?"

I knew I had to go. With one last sorrowful look at Lloyd, I turned and left.

When I was out of Mizuho, I ran. And kept running. I felt as if I should be crying, but Protozoan's don't cry. But was I really a Protozoan? I felt human, I had not known another of my kind for four millenia...but humans fade. They go away, they die and fade into earth. They lived nowhere near as long as us, so we shouldn't get attached...but I did.

First Kratos, and now Lloyd. Would the pain in my heart ever heal? I doubted it.

I stopped running in a unexceptional field south of where Tethe'alla's Tower of Salvation used to be. I lay down at the foot of a tree, and half hoped the earth would swallow me up, or the coming rains would wash me away.

A small, cold nose nudged my nuzzle.

**Are you all right?**

**

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**

Please review, I don't bite, honest!


	2. Arianrhod

I'm hoping to update this once a week (quite slow for me, but I have two fanfics going at one time!)

Thanks, Jana-Yggdrasil and Animefan64!

I don't own Tales of Symphonia. I own Arianrhod though. (you'll see)

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A small, cold nose nudged my muzzle. 

**Are you all right?**

I looked up to see another arshis. I could tell from her soft voice that she was female. She was a soft, pale blue, with fierce golden eyes.

**I said, are you okay? **She asked again.

**Fine. **I said reluctantly.

**You aren't. What's bothering you?**

**I don't even know your name, and you ask me what's wrong.**

**It's Arianrhod. Please, just call me Aria. Now what's wrong? **She asked stubbornly.

**Nothing.**

**Fine. Be like that. **She said, not bothered by my attitude. **When you feel like talking, swallow your male pride and meet me near the Yggdrasil tree. **She ran off, proving that her body was as agile as it looked.

I stayed beneath my tree for a while, before deciding that it was pointless to idly remain there. I went over to the tree, to be met by Arianrhod and Martel. I bowed my head slightly to Martel.

She returned the gesture. "Hello, Noishe."

**Can you speak our language, Martel?** I asked. 

"I can understand, but not speak it."

**Anyway, hello, Noishe. **Arianrhod greeted.

**Arianrhod… **

**Please, just Aria.**

**Alright, Aria. You're already an arshis?**

**I was created to mature quickly. That's what Martel keeps saying, anyway. I was the first Protozoan born from the Yggdrasil tree. The rest are still either aquans or…before.**

Not many protozoa could remember being a single-celled organism. Being an aquan was the human equivalent of being two, through to about ten. Then, aeros were the equivalent of human teenagers, through to about twenty-two. After that, a protozoan evolves when they feel ready.

**Noishe, I'm surprised you haven't evolved yet.**

**You know I couldn't before the Yggdrasil tree was planted.**

Evolving took vast amounts of mana from the world.

**Still, you've had ten years. I mean, you're the first life born by the Kharlan tree and you're an arshis, yet I'm the first life born from the Yggdrasil tree, and I've already caught up to you.**

**I just don't feel like it yet.** I looked away.

"Noishe?" Martel asked.

**Yes?**

"Would you mind being a _rhiant_? Not right away of course – I mean they're only aquan, but when they're older? Aeros, maybe?"

A _rhiant_ is the closest thing any protozoa has to a parent. It's slightly more personal than a teacher. Protozoa aren't forced to be rhiant, but saying no is like saying 'yes, I will kick a wounded dog' in front of Colette. You just don't do it.

**I'll think about it.**

**Noishe, some aeros would love to have you as their _rhiant_.**

Maybe it would help me forget…

**Alright, I'll do it.**

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What has Noishe let himself in for?! If this is any good, review. If not, I'll go into a small corner and cry, ensuring that no more chapters are writen! 

(Oh flip, no wonder people were confused! Sorry, it really won't happen again...I hope!)


	3. Honohiko

I don't own Tales of Symphonia, and in all probability, I never will.

Really sorry about the...typos (cringe), in the last chapter, and thanks to the people who pointed them out: moon eclipse shadows and Whoever-I-am. Now, I'm going to go through all my chapters making sure it doesn't happen again!

Also thanks to Alaia Skyhawk and Berserk1 just for reviewing (and in Alaia's case, repeatedly, so another thank you!)

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I had spent a couple of days near the tree, sometimes thinking alone, and other times I got to know Martel and Arianrhod. 

Speaking of which…Arianrhod bounded up to me.

**Noishe… **She said in a fake whiny tone, presumably to annoy me.

**What?**

**Noishe… **She repeated.

**Arianrhod… **I mimicked that exact tone of voice.

She wrinkled her nose. She hated to be called by her full name.

**Noishe? Do you like me?**

What was she on about?

**Yes, of course I like you.**

**Yay! Thank you, Noishe; you're so sweet sometimes! **And she bounded off, leaving me wondering what had actually happened.

It was a couple of days before Aria gave me some important news. Something that would change my life.

**Some of the aquans are evolving! Noishe, you can see if anyone's willing to be your _myfyriwr. _Although, you're bound to have them mobbing you.**

For that day, was the day I became a _rhiant_.

There were five aeros that wanted a _rhiant_, so I had a talk with all of them.

The first was a very meek and mild-mannered female who didn't say much. I felt I'd get all of two sentences out of her.

The second clearly didn't need a rhiant. He was a really bratty aeros, with a tendency to make a fuss when he didn't get his own way.

The third seemed to be hyperactive. He never kept still, even when he'd landed, he kept twitching his wings and looked as if he'd explode if he didn't get this energy out of him.

The fourth was just…no. I refuse to repeat what happened.

Feeling exhausted, and unhopeful, the last aeros came over.

**Hi, Noishe.** He said.

Tell me a bit about yourself.

**My name's Honohiko. I was born in some sludge, like everyone else, and spent the last five years swimming round a cramped pond.**

I didn't know about Honohiko. He stood out head and shoulders above the rest, but there seemed to be this sarcasm about him that I'd probably come to regret.

**Honohiko, this is million-gald question: why do you want to have me as a rhiant?**

**You're a nice, caring protozoan. Who wouldn't?**

I looked him over, from his pale orange feathers to the sincere blue eyes.

**Honohiko, if you'll have me, I offer to be your rhiant.**

**Really? I accept! I never thought…I mean, you, taking me! Thank you!**

**You are going to work hard though.** I warned.

**I don't care. You could say that I have to circle Symphonia once a day and I'd still accept.**

**You'd better be careful – I might hold you to that!**

And that was the day that I'd met Honohiko.

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Somehow, I feel a bit disappointed with that. It just didn't...sparkle like some other chapters, if you get my drift. And it's mainly a transitional chapter. But, I_ promise_ a better chapter next time (mainly because it's already written...and it rules!) 


	4. Human

I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

Ahh, in the first version of this, I didn't mention my reviewers! I'm really sorry, and grateful for you guy reviewing - if you hadn't, I'd probably given up on one of these by now! So thank you, Whoever-I-am, kaiaurion, Jana-Yggdrasil, monsterbookofmonsters and (of course) Alaia Skyhawk.

There's a description in here, which makes me really want to go to this part of Symphonia for a holiday!

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It had been a week since I'd first met Honohiko. He wasn't fond of his full name, so I normally called him Hiko. 

It was a completely normal day. The blue sky was evenly mixed with fluffy white clouds, the birds sang beautiful tunes above our heads, and Hiko was flying. Aria and I were running around as well, on the border of the forest, dipping in and out of the dappled shade.

**This forest…it's called the Talii forest. It spreads all around the border of the meadow. **Aria informed me.

I tried to place the information in my head. The Yggdrasill tree was in the center, surrounded by the meadow, which had the Aquans' pond in it. Then, this forest grew on the outskirts of the meadow.

Talii was, as Aria would say, a pretty forest. It had trees like oak, ash and elm creating dappled patterns when the sun shone, like today. It was full of nuts, berries and roots and was lush, with ferns carpeting the floor.

In fact, the meadow itself wasn't short of vegetation. Apparently, when the tree took root, the land around this area became very fertile. The meadow was mostly long grasses, with buttercups and clover taking root in its depths.

Suddenly, Hiko's voice cut through the air. **Noishe, Aria, come quickly. I'm about…two minutes – as the Aeros flies – north-west of the Yggdrasill tree. On the border of Talii forest.**

This meant almost nothing to me, but Aria knew her way, and I followed her. All the way there, my mind was wondering – what was so urgent? The slight panic in Hiko's voice didn't go unnoticed by me, and judging by Aria's swift pace, she'd noted it too.

We came to the spot – signified by Hiko hovering above it – and at first I was confused about what I was seeing. It looked like a bundle of navy-blue cloth, simply abandoned at the foot of a tree.

Aria, however, knew better. **It's a human! **She sounded – unsurprisingly – shocked. I hadn't seen a human since leaving Lloyd and Sheena.

I went quietly up to the softly breathing human. She was asleep, her charcoal black hair tumbling over her back and shoulders. She looked no older than eight, and I instantly pitied her. She looked weak and misplaced amongst the trees.

**Noishe, what can we do to help her? **Aria asked.

At first I was thrown; why ask me? Whether it was because I was the oldest there, or maybe because I'd had more contact with humans, I decided that then, it didn't matter.

**We need to see if she has any family. She may just be lost.**

**I can search from up here. **Hiko called.

**And I can search the places that Hiko can't see from the sky – the forest. **Aria planned.

**And me? **I wondered.

**No offense, Noishe, but you'd get lost. Look after the girl, after all, you're probably the best one to do it.**

They left quickly.

A sound from the girl made me look round. She was shivering in her sleep. I nudged her arm gently, but it was cold to the touch. It brought back memories…

_A shivering woman, huddled up against the biting cold wind, a baby slumbering in her arms. Kratos had told me to look after them while he gathered food. I lay down next to them, sharing my body heat._

"_Thank you." She mumbled gratefully._

So, I did the same here.I lay down, wrapping my body around the human child, who was already crouched into a ball to conserve her body heat.

I could hear her mumbling in her sleep.

"Mom, dad…no!" She seemed to be having a nightmare, and she was twitching violently.

Suddenly, her eyes flickered open, revealing tearstained, chocolate-brown eyes.

"Mommy!" She shouted, more tears welling up in her eyes.

"Mom?" When she sensed she wouldn't get an answer, she broke into sobs. "It was true…it wasn't a dream…you really are gone…"

Then, it seemed, she noticed me. "Oh." I could see she was still tired, and wanted to sleep again. I nosed her hand encouragingly. "Thank you…doggy." She mumbled sleepily, before her eyelids closed and she drifted off into sleep again.

I swallowed my indignation at being called a dog…again. I just hoped Aria and Hiko would find something soon…

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Aw, everytime I read this I start crying!

On a completely different note, if anyone's on Gaia, my name is the same as on so pay me a visit! And give me money, 'cause I'm dirt poor!


	5. Kara

Thank you, Alaia Skyhawk and Whoever-I-am, you proved that my readers haven't been abducted. So, the following rant does not apply to you, or Jana-Yggdrasil.

Everyone else – I was worried sick about you! What happened? Normally you're so quick to review!

And I'm not very pleased about the hits situation. I need to times the amount of reviews I got last time by about 13 to get the amount of hits! That means that only 1/13 of my readers are reviewing (or roughly 10 or 0.13). So, I'm a bit disappointed, and the more disappointed I get, the less likely I am to actually carry on with this.

And to top it off, I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

* * *

The shadows were beginning to lengthen across the ground before Aria and Hiko returned.

**Anything? **I asked, already aware it was pointless.

**We went to the edge of the forest. There was no point in going further. **Aria explained quietly.

**We tried our best, Noishe. **Hiko, too, sounded regretful.

**If there was no one to find, it would be unfair of me to expect you to find them.**

**So, what do we do now? **Hiko asked.

**We should go and see Martel. At least the girl should be able to understand _her_. **Aria said.

**Let her sleep for now, though. I have a feeling she's had a rough time.**

However, the girl stirred just then. Unlike earlier, she looked around calmly, but she was biting her lip nervously, and small tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Mom…" She whispered quietly as a tear slid quietly down her face. Even as she whispered the word, she brought her fingers up to her lips, as if she knew it was futile and wanted to take it back.

I nudged her hand gently with my nose.

"Oh. Thank you. Wait…last night I called you a dog, didn't I? I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I was just sleepy and…"

I nudged her hand reassuringly, wishing that she'd actually understand me so I could say it didn't matter.

Aria took a few steps away, to try and signal that she wanted the girl to follow her. I think she understood what Aria was trying to say, as she stood up.

Her navy blue dress was slightly crumpled from her lying down in it. A lilac sash was tied around the dress. She ran her fingers through her black hair a couple of times, which was arranged into messy bangs.

I took a few steps forward to try and reinforce the message, then turned my head round to check she was following.

"Do you…want me to follow you?"

I gave a nod, a human signal that had rubbed off on me.

"Okay."

I found it strange that she was so accepting of everything. Most human children – especially ones as young as her – would have given up, crying by now. They'd be scared…I think. The only child I'd really known was Lloyd, and he was _far _from normal.

About halfway to the tree, the girl suddenly remarked, "By the way, my name's Kara. And…thank you for looking after me."

The girl was silent until we got to the tree. Martel was instantly curious.

"Who's this?" She asked.

**We found her on this side of Talii forest. Apparently her name's Kara. **I explained.

Kara gasped. "Wait…I can understand you? But…that's…"

**Yeah, isn't that supposed to be impossible? **Hiko asked.

**As long as I've lived, I've never met anyone who could understand us. **I said.

Martel spoke up. "The tree says that it's possible that she can hear you through an infusion of human and elven blood."

**A half-elf?**

"I'm not a half-elf. Mom said I probably got some elven blood from her, but it wasn't that much."

**Cool! Have you ever done spells or anything? **Hiko blurted out.

Aria reprimanded him. **Hiko, not many people are comfortable about having elven blood. Kara, are you all right?**

"I'm alright. I don't mind having elven blood. And there's no point in worrying about it, because I am what I am. I can't really change that."

It struck me how mature she sounded. She was more sensible than most adults I'd met.

**Kara, why did we find you in the middle of nowhere? **I asked gently.

Tears began to well up in her eyes, but even though it was plain to see the memory hurt, she didn't refuse to answer.

"My parents were attacked by half-elves. They burnt our house. My mom and dad died to protect me. I was scared, and they'd told me to run. So I ran through the forest and kept running." By now, her tears were falling quickly.

"I just ran…I was so scared…"

Martel gave Kara an awkward hug and tried to comfort her.

I tried to comfort her, too, in my own way. **Kara, someone I knew was raised for fourteen years, believing that half-elves had killed his parents. He felt so angry at the half-elves, he wanted them all to just die.**

Grudgingly, forcing herself to believe her words, Kara said, "But…that's not right. Because of that revenge, you've started another cycle of revenge. And it goes on and never ends…the revenge has to stop."

Later, that would strike me as incredibly mature, but at that moment, I was just relived that she wasn't crying.

"That's right. Revenge is what caused the Kharlan tree to die in the first place. And it prevented the Yggdrasil tree for being planted for so long." Martel tilted her head to look up at the leafy boughs of the half-grown tree.

**I know it must feel awful, but we need to think about now. Have you got any family left? Aunts, uncles, grandparents? **Aria asked Kara.

She simply shook her head slowly, making her hair wave slightly with the momentum of the action.

Well, do you want to stay with us? At least for a little while? Aria continued. 

"I'd like that." She said quietly.

**I trust that's all right with everyone? **Aria sounded reasonable enough, but there was a slight undertone to her voice that seemed to dare anyone to come up with a reason why not – at their own peril…

**I don't see any reason why not. **I said.

"Thank you, but if you'll excuse me asking, I don't know your names."

Again, she seemed to speak with a calm, polite quietness that seemed far too old for her. Even Genis wasn't this quiet when he was this age!

**My name's Aria. **The sky-blue arshis said kindly.

We all introduced ourselves to Kara, then set about the task of gathering food, for ourselves, and for the human, who was now under our charge.

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I made this chapter a bit longer than I would have done, had I not got those requests for longer chapters. I did have a place that struck me about half-way down the second page that seemed like a good place to stop, but I'm being kind.

A small note: none of my names are idly chosen. (Arianrhod, Honohiko and some things that I'm adding later…) In fact, almost every word in the next few chapters are chosen specifically and carefully, to conceal a huge plot twist…(so, have I got your interest yet?)

And until I get five reviews for this chapter, there is no way I'm posting any more chapters. I _had_ hoped it hadn't had to come to this…


	6. The Ruined Village

I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

This is late up because I only got two reviews and the home computer's offline right now - I'm using a library computer to post this.

Thanks to: Alaia Skyhawk and Whoever-I-am. At least _you _reviewed (out of the 20 odd hits I keep getting!).

* * *

At first, Kara wasn't very sleepy. She stared into space quite a lot, probably remembering the…unpleasant incident that'd brought her here. Surprisingly, she ate quite a lot of the berries that Aria and Hiko had found in the wood (while I had stayed behind, not knowing my way around very well.)

Eventually, Kara fell asleep, after remarking that it was cold. I decided to stay with her, to protect her against the cold.

It was a starry, cloudless night – which meant that it was colder than normal. It didn't help with the sudden strong gusts of wind that blew my fur up the wrong way.

Aria stayed with us for a long time, and we talked about nothing, anything and everything. The stars filled me with a kind of homesickness…

I must have fallen asleep at some point, as the next thing I remembered was the dawn, a pinkish-gray mass on the horizon.

Kara seemed to sleep forever – not that I blamed her. I could tell she was having nightmares, as she was turning, every so often shouting words in her sleep. Sometimes they'd just be words like 'Mom' and 'Dad', but often, they were words I couldn't pick out, or they were just mumbled.

**Poor girl. **Aria said. **Who could do this? Just kill a little girl's family…**

**I've seen too many things like this. Every time, I ask myself the same question. I just don't know.**

Just then, Kara woke up.

**Are you all right? **Aria asked.

Aria seemed to be the most concerned about Kara. We all felt protective of her, and we sympathized with her, but Aria just seemed to have a particularly caring personality.

"I feel much better, thank you." Kara didn't seem to need to put on a polite attitude; she was just naturally like this.

**Do you need anything to eat; are you hungry? **Aria asked.

"No, I'm…" Kara was cut off by a loud growl from her stomach. "Maybe I _am_ hungry." She admitted. "But it's rude to just take things…so, I'd like to help and come with you."

**Don't worry, you're welcome to. **Aria seemed bemused by this logic, but pleased all the same.

I stayed near them all the time. Now that the sun had risen, it would have been a warm day, but for the strong breezes that were carrying the brown leaves on the forest floor around in every direction. A couple of gray clouds were just visible through the forest canopy.

"Aria," Kara started, after eating her fill, "I have something I need to do. I need to go back to my home and…get some things. You understand, don't you?"

Aria nodded. **Will you be all right on your own though?**

"Yes, thanks. I _need _to be alone for this. I won't be too long. I'll be back by tonight, promise." Kara set off through the forest at a brisk pace, with a grim expression on her face.

**Was that so wise? **I asked.

You need to be more sensitive. She's lost all her family; it's only natural that she'd want to go back there.

**But some people tried to kill her family. Maybe those same people are still there.**

**They aren't. **She said confidently.

**How can you be so sure? **I asked.

Just trust me. When I scouted the area, I didn't see or _hear _anyone for miles. 

Knowing our Arshis hearing, I did trust her.

Kara's POV 

Tears were streaming down my face the closer I got to my old home. When I saw it again, I couldn't help gasping. Any wood that hadn't been burnt away was blackened.

Nothing recognizable remained of my house. Everything was burnt and just a bit of the couple of support timbers remained.

The smell of blood, and burnt flesh made me gag.

How could someone do this? My parents were nice people, and really kind, so who _could_ do this to them…

Then, I saw them. My mom, a sword wound through her stomach, staring with sightless, glassy eyes at the lifeless body of my dad.

Fresh tears sprang to my eyes as I took a step towards them. Then I stopped. They wouldn't want me to remember them like this… With difficulty, I turned towards the house.

I went to where my room should have been. There was a large pile of debris in the center of the 'room', which I tried to shift, hoping that there'd be anything salvageable.

I gasped, noticing my heavy hardwood chest was intact. Obviously, the outsides were scorched, and the intricate wood paneling was wrecked, but the thick wood seemed to have protected what was inside.

I opened the chest – whose hinges squeaked. Dad was always meaning to oil them…of course, it was too late now…

I gently lifted out a pewter necklace, wrought in the shape of a falcon in flight. I put it round my neck, feeling it's familiar shape with my fingertips. Dad had given it to me for my birthday, and I normally only wore it on special occasions. But now, I didn't know when I would come back for it, if ever.

A small wooden figure also got taken. It was a bear with a fish in its mouth. Supposedly, they were really popular with rich ladies – they were supposed to bring wealth, or good luck or something like that. All I know is that I got given it for a birthday…come to think of it, almost everything I owned and was proud of was given to me on my birthday.

Finally, and with trembling hands, I pulled out a pair of katanas. One was merely wooden with a plain sheaf – a practice weapon. But the other was the most precious thing I owned. To begin with, it was beautiful, a shiny blue-gray blade, a sheath with a resin cherry-blossom tree – a sakura tree – with petals blowing away in a frozen wind, and the hilt was inscribed with runes I didn't understand. It's name was Sigel Peorth, and I'd been instructed on how to fight for two years now.

I attached the katanas underneath my sash – my obi – so that the hilt stuck out the top, and most of the sheath protruded from the bottom.

I was filled with the sudden realization that there was nothing more to stay here for. I turned to leave, but the burnt odor from the house stopped me – just for a second.

"No. No more hesitations; no more looking back. I promise to myself: from now on, I won't dwell on this. Nobody would've wanted it. I will not be haunted by this." I said forcefully.

I was just about to leave, when I heard some voices. They were muffled, and I couldn't tell what they were saying, but they seemed pretty happy to me.

The owners of the voices came into view, and I noticed only one thing. Whitish-blue hair. I instantly came to the conclusion that they were half-elves, and my defense instinct took over, sending me into the forest – out of sight.

And then I went to return to the Protozoans.

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Again, sorry this was up late. Computer should be working soon...and REVIEW!


	7. Homesick

Thanks, Jana-Yggdrasill, Alaia Skyhawk and Whoever-I-am. You are ALL that's keeping me going with this.

Someone commented on Kara's matureness (admitted, it was quite a few chapters ago), which has made me realise – I've created a character more mature than _me_. But in some ways, she sort of reflects the personality that I had at that age…

And I want to remind you (again) that every word, more or less, has been chosen specially to set up for the huge plot twist coming later…

* * *

Noishe's POV again.

I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

I saw Kara walking out of the forest, a grim expression on her face. As I went up to her, I noticed the hilt of two swords.

**Kara? Why have you got swords? **I asked, more than a little worried.

"Don't worry, Noishe. They're mine. Besides, they're _katanas_, not swords."

**What's the difference? **Hiko asked cheerfully.

I ignored Hiko. **I can't help but feel a little worried about you having a lethal weapon. **I explained.

"I've been practicing with them for two years now. Actually, compared to most people in the village, I was late starting…Anyway, I know what I'm doing. Besides, I can't help thinking that if I'd been good enough…" She looked down at the ground, and I could tell she was thinking about her parents.

**Don't feel like it's your fault. **I said sympathetically.

Aria had appeared a couple of sentences ago and now said, **You've had to grow up in a short space of time, but because you can, doesn't mean you _should_ accuse yourself. Like Noishe said, it's not your fault.**

"Still, I need to know how to defend myself." Kara insisted stubbornly.

It occurred to me that this was the first thing Kara had been really stubborn about. Even when she'd wanted to go back to her home, she'd asked and not been insistent. So, I had the feeling this was extremely important to her.

**I agree. It'd certainly help if you can defend yourself. If you'd like, I can give you some tips.**

"You? No offense, Noishe, but you've probably never even held a sword. How do you know anything about swordplay?"

**I knew two extremely accomplished swordsmen. They spent extensive sessions outdoors training. I watched and listened to them. I feel like I know at least some tips that you may be grateful for. **I hadn't meant it to come out like it did – rather shallow and superior – but once said, there was no taking the words back.

"Oh…sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything." Kara said apologetically.

**I wouldn't worry about it. **Hiko said. **He's just…blunt, sometimes.**

"But still, if that's how he feels…"

**No, you weren't to know how it would make me feel. **I protested. **I believe those swordsmen have rubbed off on me…**

**Noishe? Do you want to talk? **Aria offered, sensing the hidden emotions behind my words.

For a second, I felt like declining her offer, but I knew I needed to let out some emotions.

**Yes. Maybe Kara and Hiko should go and play or practice or something.**

They took the hint and left Aria and I alone.

**What's the matter? **Aria asked, every bit as caring for me as she had been for Kara.

Everything seems to remind me of either Kratos or Lloyd. I feel just a bit…homesick. I finished rather dejectedly. 

You could always go back to see Lloyd. It isn't that far. Besides, I think Kara may need some basic things like a quilt to keep her warm, and Lloyd's going to understand you, at least a little, won't he?

To be honest, it was a perfect excuse. Except… **I don't think Lloyd would understand if I tried to ask for a quilt. Even _if _he understood, he wouldn't know what it was for.**

**Why doesn't Kara or, even better, Martel write a note for you?**

A couple of hours later, I was happily trotting through the forest – the note in my mouth. Although I didn't know my way, Aria had given me rough directions, and from there on, I'd simply used my nose.

The clouds above threatened a drizzle, and when it came, even that didn't dampen my mood. I was busy imagining Lloyd's reaction to the note – he knew I was intelligent, but he'd get a shock when I gave him the letter I'd dictated.

To prove that it was me, and not an imposter pretending to be me, I'd mentioned a particular day when we were still in Iselia. Lloyd had failed a test – only getting 2 per cent - and Raine had…well, it wasn't pretty…

I found myself more excited than I could have believed. Until then, I hadn't really realised how much I had missed him.

And I just kept saying to myself, **Not far now…

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**

I'm sorry this is up so late. It was meant to be up on Wednesday, but I had computer troubles, and yesterday, a trip to London kept me out all day. I would've put it up earlier today, but I wasn't allowed to update until I'd finished my thank you notes…

Review if you feel like cheering me up! If you don't want to cheer me up, don't review, but also don't read.

Oh, and you almost got the next chapter of Don't Die here instead of this one; I'm so tired!


	8. Amongst the Embers

Aw, poor Noishy. I feel a bit sorry for you reviewers too, 'cause I keep leaving you in the dark, but…poor Noishy… I think I'm improving with the doglike body language – it helps having three dogs – but also, just lately I've reread Dogsbody by Diana Wyn Jones. (Watch Howl's Moving Castle - it's based on a book by the same author - so SWEET!) So, that's probably helped with the dog/arshis body language.

Thanks to...Jana...who was the ONLY reviewer! Where were you guys? Recovering from Christmas?

I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

* * *

I was padding silently through the forest. A slight drizzle fell through the leafy canopy above, causing tiny droplets to form at the end of my fur.

I was brimming with excitement. I'd see Lloyd again!

But, near to the village, the air was filled with the smell of wood-smoke. It smelt big…why would they have a bonfire with it raining like this?

**It's probably an indoor fire. **I said to myself.

However, I wasn't reassured. I picked up my pace, and broke out of the forest…

Not meaning to, yet unable to stop myself, I howled at the sight in front of me. The whole village had been burnt to the ground. Nothing remained of Mizuho, except charred debris.

I howled again, unable to stop myself. There didn't seem to be any survivors…

No! Lloyd and Sheena were strong; they couldn't have fallen to the same fate as the houses…I refused to believe it! I jumped over debris and houses, searching for anything…

I found them, cold-skinned and glassy-eyed. Utterly lifeless.

Then a sound met my sensitive ears. The sound of burnt wood on burnt wood…perhaps someone moving debris?

Then, a voice. "This is terrible…I'm worried for Lloyd and Sheena. Did they get out in time?"

The voice sounded familiar. I let out a couple of friendly barks.

"Hey, that sounds like Noishe!"

I heard the owner of the voice, as well as an extra pair of feet, move towards me. When they came into view, I knew who they were, and kicked myself for not realizing who the voice had belonged to.

It was Colette and Zelos. Colette ran straight towards their bodies and knelt down. She made several motions to touch the corpses, but never quite dared, instead bringing her hands to her face, and sobbing into them.

Zelos came up behind her, and got her standing up. It didn't change much – she just sobbed into his shoulder instead.

I turned to leave – I felt like I was intruding on their sorrow – but Colette stopped me.

"Noishe? What happened?" She asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

I shook my head slightly, but solemnly – to try and tell her I didn't know. Colette went back to sobbing.

I left. Secretly, I envied them their tears. I felt so much like crying, yet the emotions were still bottled up within me.

I lay down in the forest, and – since I couldn't cry – I thought. I remembered everything there was to remember about Lloyd, from that first tiny baby memory up until him eating tomato ramen in Mizuho. All the good times, _and _the bad. The friendships, betrayals, the hopes and dreams, his feelings, his attitude…I overwhelmed myself with his memory.

And I knew that he was gone. I hadn't even been able to say goodbye…

He'd sent me away…maybe if he hadn't, he'd still be here now. Maybe I could have made the difference.

At some point, the drizzle had turned to a downpour, but I hardly cared that the water was seeping through my fur, soaking me to the core. I simply lay there, remembering Lloyd.

Eventually, Aria came up to me, obviously worried.

She gave my nuzzle a reassuring nudge and asked me what was wrong.

**Aria, the whole world's wrong. Why should innocent people die while…there are people – murderers – that still live? Why should… **I suddenly found that I couldn't keep it in much longer, so the news burst out ungracefully. **Aria, Lloyd's dead! Lloyd's dead and I didn't even get to see him before he died. And I just keep thinking this selfish thought: that I bet he never even thought of me before he died! And I know it's selfish, and distracts me from grieving for him…**

**Noishe. **Every inch of her golden eyes were filled with sorrow and pity. **It's normal to feel how you do. It…**

She didn't finish her next sentence, because of me shouting, **How do _you _know how it's normal to feel?! You have no idea what I'm going through! You've never been like this!**

Aria was hurt; I could see that from the pained look on her face. She couldn't retort, or simply shrug it off, because it was the truth. And, worse, right then, I didn't care how Aria felt. Even feeling like this, she still stayed, attempting to keep her voice calm.

**You're right. I don't know how it feels. Nobody I know – so far – has died. And do you know what? I'm thankful for that. What gives you the right to shout at me because I've never felt like you do right now? I'm sorry about Lloyd, but you don't need to be aggressive about it. I'm _trying _to _help_.**

**Just go away.**

**No. I'm not leaving you on your own. Right now, you don't care one bit for yourself, not to mention anyone else. Well, I do, and I can't let you mope for the dead while the living need you.**

What was she talking about?

Kara needs a blanket or something. It's going to be a cold night – do you really want her to suffer? There is a time and a place to grieve, but now's not it. Do you understand?

To most people, I suppose Aria's words would've sounded harsh, but it was exactly what I needed to hear. A strong sense of duty reawakened in me – it knew I still had things that I needed to do.

First, I got Martel to rewrite the note in a more respectful tone – before it'd been lighthearted and joking. Then, I took it to Mizuho, where I knew the only people who'd understand were now grieving for Lloyd.

Thankfully, they didn't question why I needed the blanket – there was no mention of Kara on the note – and simply positioned it so I could run with it on my back.

I kept myself busy with Kara, and although she saw that I was sad about something, a meaningful glance from Aria stopped Kara from asking too many questions. I just couldn't bring myself to explain again. Besides, Lloyd's death would probably remind her of her own parents, which no child should have to relive.

But when Kara fell asleep, it left me free to think again, and my mind was buzzing with thoughts and feelings. I knew it'd be all too long until I could think normally again.

But a thought kept occurring to me: did I _want _to think normally again?

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I worry when people don't review! Also, I might take a short stress holiday depending on who is reviewing!


	9. Angel's Tears

I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

Thank you, to: Alaia Skyhawk, Jana-Yggdrasil and moon eclipse shadows.

* * *

It was many months before I could think of Lloyd without the overwhelming grief resurfacing. In that time, Kara had become quite comfortable with us. She and Hiko – when they didn't have lessons or training – often played together. 

With our help, Kara had built a crude shelter from dead wood and stone. While it kept out most breezes, it was no way near human standards of housing.

On this particular day, Kara had woken at dawn – she said it was from habit – and had an hours practice with her katana.

She had a natural talent for the sword, but her skill was increased by the fact that she was determined to learn to look after herself, and she was completely devoted to training. Since she'd retrieved the weapon, she'd never skipped or put off practice.

Today, a blustery wind, combined with a heavy shower of rain had sent us into the forest shelter. Hiko looked extremely bedraggled – he'd been caught out flying when the rain had started – so he was trying to dry himself as best he could.

Kara was even quieter than normal, gazing up at the forest canopy wide eyes. Occasionally, she'd run a few fingers through Aria's fur, lost in her memories. From her expression, the memories weren't upsetting, just distant.

**Gald for your thoughts? **I offered Kara.

"What? Oh, I was just remembering one time when it rained."

**Care to tell us about it?**

"Alright. It was a holy day in my village, but Mom and Dad were busy – Mom was doing something in the village, and Dad was doing something in some city…I think. Anyway, in this city, Dad had dropped me off at his friend's house – or it may have been Mom's friend, I'm not sure.

"I was excited, even though my parents were busy, because it was a day that I had all to myself, and I didn't have to do any chores or lessons. But when I went outside to play, it was raining, and I had to go inside.

"I was angry; with myself, for being excited; and with the weather itself. I asked the skies – though I didn't expect an answer, 'Why did it have to rain?'

"And the woman who was looking after me said, 'I was told – when I was a child – that raindrops were angel's tears, sent from heaven to wash away our sins.'

"I wondered about this for ages. Angels just seem like something from a bedtime story I was told…" She looked at us. "Sorry, that didn't really have an ending, but it was a memory and _they _don't really end."

I almost laughed. **Angel's tears? **I asked sarcastically.

"That's what she said. She didn't say she _believed _it, just that she was told it."

Kara, how much history do you know? 

"Well, it depends what about, I suppose."

**About the Yggdrasill tree?**

"I know that it's just a little bit older than me – about two years older, but apart from that…nothing really."

Kara looked ashamed of her lack of knowledge.

**Don't worry; I just wanted to know. It's nothing to be ashamed about. In fact…Aria, Hiko, what do _you _know? **I asked.

**I know that you were around to see it. **Hiko replied cheekily.

A friend of yours was the one to resurrect the tree – and name it. Aria said delicately – incase it would upset me. I know because Martel told me. 

**But that's all you know? **I asked, surprised.

I got positive answers from all three. Maybe I shouldn't have been shocked – after all, it happened before they were born, but history was practically my whole life. Ever since Kratos rescued me from the protozoan-using armies, I'd been unknowingly playing a part in history.

So, I was determined to make a difference. I'd teach them about my life – and the lives of those who'd made a difference.

While teaching Kara history, I realised that she was quite bright and could remember things without going through them many times. I decided to teach her anything else I could remember – when Lloyd had been struggling with homework, he'd often said the question aloud many times before Genis gave up and told him the answer.

Soon, any lesson Kara had, Hiko was listening too. He said it was boring, but I could tell that deep down, he liked learning. Martel helped with science – since most of it was how mana behaved in certain situations, she seemed more than qualified to teach it.

Kara didn't just learn knowledge. She learnt practical skills like foraging and hunting – "I eat meat, so I should be prepared to hunt it myself," she'd said – not to mention building and lighting a fire without magic or magitechnology.

She learnt to look after herself, but we never even mentioned what would happen when she grew older. That was until, a year, or thereabouts had passed since we'd found the young orphan, all alone in the world, at the foot of a oak tree…

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Nothing much to say except review and sorry that this is a little late. 


	10. The Last Aurion

What is it with me and huge plot revelations? Over on Don't Die, Anna's pregnant, while in this chapter...

Thanks to: Jana-Sparrow and Alaia Skyhawk for reviewing. It means so much to me!

I don't own Tales of Symphonia (well, duh!)

* * *

A weak wind was blowing. Kara and Hiko were out hunting, while Aria and I were enjoying what little warmth the autumn sun provided. Martel had seemed troubled all day, but we figured that she'd tell us in her own time. Eventually, she did.

"I just keep thinking…we can't keep Kara here forever."

**Why not? **Aria asked.

**She needs to be around her own kind. **I said regretfully.

**???'s POV**

I breathed in the fresh air gratefully. The scenery was full of life and greenery, something I hadn't been treated to for years.

I heard a screech, somewhat like a falcon's, and an orange blur swooped onto the ground some distance to the right of me. A rabbit, narrowly escaping the blur, hopped into the undergrowth.

"What in the name of mana…?" I questioned.

"Hiko!" A girl exclaimed, who was looking at the orange, falcon-like creature. "You missed it!"

The girl paused, as if listening to the bird, before turning to me.

"Who are you?" She asked, puzzled.

I ignored her question, asking my own instead. "May I speak to your parents?"

At this, her eyes moistened slightly, but she shouted, "You can't!"

Unsure of what I'd done wrong, I said, "I apologise."

"You've done nothing wrong." She snapped.

"Maybe you could help me. I'm looking for Lloyd, Lloyd Irving. He might be using the name Aurion too. Do you know where I may find him?"

"Go away!" She shouted. "Leave!" She drew a katana from her obi.

"You do not want to cross blades with me." I warned her.

"Then, go!" She slashed at me – a warning – but instinct caused me to draw my own sword and block the blow.

She continued to attack, and although I could've retaliated, I simply defended, impressed with her skills for someone so young.

Kara's POV 

The strange swordsman and I locked blades, while I desperately thought of a way to either escape or win. I could tell this person was strong, and had had more experience fighting than I could imagine. Winning wasn't an option.

I leant back suddenly, back-flipping out of the locked blades. Then, on my feet again, I attacked. I was blocked, with the crash of metal resounding all around us. I pushed out; I twirled round with my blade…blocked again. Time and time again, I attacked, searching for an opening, and every time I got blocked.

A thought crept along during this stalemate: why doesn't he attack? I realised my answer when my arms began to ache. He was trying to tire me out.

Running out of options, I leapt forward, slashing quickly. I was blocked all three times, but it didn't matter, I was simply attempting to distract him. After the third blow, I swung my sword in an uppercut, while releasing a wave of focused mana – just how Dad had taught me.

"Demon Fang!" I shouted.

To my utter dismay, the swordsman raised a glowing green shield, which dispersed my mana. For a second, a flicker of recognition spread across his face, but I had no time to ponder it.

"Hiko! Get help!" I called, before throwing myself back into the fight.

Noishe's POV 

I'd continued talking about Kara's future, when I heard Hiko's voice – urgent sounding and distant.

Noishe, Aria! Kara's in trouble! She's got into a swordfight with someone who looks really strong!

And we were already running towards Hiko's voice. For once, we ran at full speed, over fields, meadows and marshy ground, and through the forest. Eventually, we found Kara – the length of the fight taking its toll on her.

"Noishe, help!" Kara shouted as she concentrated on unlocking blades with the older swordsman. 

My eyes traveled up the blade of the sword to the purple-clad, auburn-haired swordsman.

My arshis nature caused me to bowl him over and pin him to the ground with one paw. Then, I proceeded to wash the swordsman's face – with my tongue.

"Noishe?" He questioned, before struggling to get up.

"Noishe, do you know him?" She asked incredulously.

Kara, meet an old friend of mine – Kratos Aurion. I introduced.

"Wait, _he's _the guy you were saying so much about?" She asked.

"Am I to believe that you can understand Protozoa?" Kratos cut in.

Tell him that I say, 'tomatoes'.

"Um, Noishe says, 'tomatoes'…" Kara said uncertainly.

Kratos, for a moment, was fazed, but quickly regained his composure. "Why did you attack me?"

"Um…"

Oh no. I need to explain to him about Lloyd…Kara, tell him to follow me.

Kara quickly relayed the message, and soon, we were heading towards the tree, where Martel could translate what I was saying.

Wait, Kara, you should go now. I don't want you hearing this.

Kara suddenly showed the adamant side of her, and insisted, "No, this is something I _need_ to do."

Kara… 

Surprisingly, Kratos input his opinion. "If she wants to come along, she can. I've no quarrel with her."

I sighed. **Suit yourself. But I did warn you, Kara.**

**

* * *

**

Yay, Kratos! (if you can't tell, I've been dying to do that all the way through writing this...)

I'm a little busy with Kingdom Hearts 2 and Gaia, so chapter updates from me may start getting late, but just until I regain a schedule. I'll probably wake up early just to write - see the things I do for you reviewers?


	11. The Truth Revealed

Finally, the plot twist (that I've been hinting strongly at for ages!) is here. And so is Kratos!

I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

Thanks so much reviewers! There aren't a lot of you, but you keep me going!

* * *

Upon arriving at the tree, Kratos started asking where Lloyd was.

"I'm really sorry, mister Kratos…but Lloyd's dead." Kara said regretfully. Tears were starting to well in her eyes.

I whipped my head round to stare at her. **How did you know? I made sure not to mention it… **But the pieces were already starting to fall in place…

"Lloyd was…" She started shakily. "my Dad."

Kratos, with one distraught look, strode away wordlessly.

"Wait!" Kara shouted, with no effect.

**Kara, he'll be back. He just needs to be alone for a while. This'd be hard on anyone, but…this is the second time he's had to accept that Lloyd's dead. Give him time.** I tried to focus on only comforting Kara, but failed. **You're Lloyd's daughter…you kept it quiet all this time…**

"I know. I'm sorry for not telling you for so long. It's just that at first, the half-elves were probably still looking for me, and after that there just didn't seem a point."

**It's all right.** I nosed the girl's hand to reassure her. **Are you all right now? About your parents and…everything?**

She nodded wordlessly.

**If you don't mind, how did you and Kratos get into a fight? He's not the type to randomly cross swords with the first person he sees.**

Kara blushed. "It's just, the way he said things, it sounded like he was hunting down my family…like those half-elves. And I panicked."

**I understand.**

Kara was crying quietly, trying to hide it from me.

**Kara, what's wrong?**

"What if…what if my granddad doesn't want me? What if he's run away? Maybe he'd be glad to be shot of me…"

**Kara! He's not like that. He cares for his family more than you could imagine. He hates standing idly; watching people he loves die around him.**

"All the more reason to abandon me. One less person to watch die," She muttered bitterly.

**This isn't like you, Kara. You _know _he's a good person really**.

Kara was attempting to wipe tears away from her face, when she gave a hollow laugh. "It's all right for you. You've always been 'the pet' to him. As soon as…"

**Stop it.** I practically growled, feeling my hackles rise against my will. **He's always treated me reasonable, and with respect, even if he couldn't understand me. You're just in a bad mood.**

I forced myself to calm down, knowing that Kara would've been scared.

"Sorry, Noishe," She mumbled, ashamed. "I was just…jealous, I guess. Back when Mom and Dad had been alive, I was the best child at sword skills in the village. Everyone expected me to be – being the daughter of the both the chief and of the hero…but I found it really hard. I practiced all the time, because I _had _to be good. And then, after all that…he would've beaten me so easily. He didn't even bother to attack me, just waited for me to tire myself out."

**Kara, if it helps, that was more or less Lloyd's first reaction to Kratos.**

"What? What exactly happened?"

**Well, Lloyd and two of his friends had got themselves into a fight and they were coming off worse for it. Just when it seemed that they were as good as dead, in comes Kratos, who blocks the would-be fatal attack, and wins the fight, practically by himself and barely gets scratched.**

**Of course, Lloyd felt upset about this… Upset was possibly an understatement – Lloyd had been angry for about a week. Anyway, they worked things out…In fact, Lloyd's beaten Kratos in a proper fight before.**

She smiled slightly. "Noishe, am I being silly?"

**No, you're being a typical human,** I reassured her.

From a short way off, I heard footsteps. **He's coming back,** I told Kara, stifling the urge to add 'told you so'.

Kratos stepped out of the trees.

"I apologise if I worried you. I needed time alone to think."

I noticed that Kara didn't meet his eyes when she answered, "Don't worry, I was fine by myself."

**Kara, can you ask him how he got back from Derris-Kharlan?**

Kara repeated my question.

"Symphonia came within range of the teleporters. I'd hoped to see Lloyd again…" Kratos evidently felt that no further explanations were required.

Kara started speaking slowly, as if she didn't want to, but knew that if she didn't, no one else would. "Um…Kratos, I'm sorry for bring this up so soon, but…what now?"

'What now'?

"As much as I'd like to, I can't live with the protozoa all my life. And you're the only family I have left…"

"I'll look after you, if you want – I'd be doing your parents a great disservice if I didn't."

I could tell that this next sentence was taking a lot of courage to say – Kratos can be quite intimidating unintentionally. "But…Noishe, Hiko and Aria. What about them? I don't want to leave them either…"

I gently licked Kara's hand. **I'll come with you – I'm sure Kratos wouldn't mind; he never has before.**

"I have no objection to Noishe, and as long as the other two behave, they can come," Kratos said.

**Behave? That'll be a new word for Hiko.**

"But he's more cheeky than…mischievous. And seeing as Kratos doesn't understand you word for word anyway, it doesn't really matter," Kara pointed out, much to the bemusement of Kratos, who could only guess what I'd said.

Kratos carried on as if nothing had happened. "I've also noticed; we aren't on the best speaking terms, are we?"

"Maybe not…" Kara said warily.

"How about a fresh start? We forget the swordfight, and start again?"

"Alright."

Kara smiled slightly, but it was a forced smile, attempting to be polite.

Why did I have the feeling that this was going to be difficult?

* * *

Why does Kara dislike Kratos so much? I didn't plan it (although it'll work really well with some ideas I have…)

I need some reader feedback: should I a) post the next chapter under a new fic, as it was originally intended, or b) post a chapter like normal, just putting a time-jump in? B is a lot less work for me, to be honest, I don't have to come up with a new summary (although I may do that anyway) and another title (this one gave me enough trouble!)

So please review with opinions!


	12. The Quintessent Village

Expect this to be short – I did it in under an hour, and it's just a 'get-the-plot-from-one-story-onto-the-next' sort of thing, more commonly known as a transition chapter. (apply boos and hisses where appropriate)

I don't own Tales of Symphonia. Got it memorized? (Okay, it was only a matter of time before I used that! Axel!)

* * *

It had been a couple of months since Kratos had found Kara. We were living in the repaired Ozette, which was still a quiet, wooded village, even after being rebuilt. The forest suited Kara well – I had the feeling she was born to live near trees. However, both Kratos and Kara were stubborn when they wanted to be, and irritatingly polite to each other the rest of the time.

Kara seemed to spend a lot of time alone…except she was very rarely alone, as either Hiko, Aria or myself was almost always with her. She didn't mind our company, which made me briefly wonder whether her year with us had made her anti-social towards humans. My fears were soon put to rest – she was perfectly friendly, if a little shy, towards the other humans in the village.

The real problem was that there were no children her age around, so she didn't have anyone to play with.

The only time Kara and Kratos got on with each other seemed to be when they were practicing swordplay. Kara acknowledged – however grudgingly – that Kratos was better than her and deserved to be listened to. Or maybe Kara listened in the hope that she might one day be better than Kratos… In any case, Kratos somehow realised that she was completely dedicated to practice, and it seemed to me that he spent far less time correcting or reprimanding Kara than he'd ever done with Lloyd.

They'd have at least one practice session a day, although if Kara had nothing better to do, she and Hiko would play a game of sorts, where Hiko would fly into the air with a rag and drop it, while Kara had to get into position, and hit it with her wooden sword in a certain way, that was dictateded by Hiko as the rag was falling.

I noticed Kara had a lot more free time, some of which was taken up by books. Apparently, she'd been fond of books before the Mizuho incident, but she hadn't known too much about the world, so some books hadn't made much sense. Now, she read through books with a passion, glowing with pride when a villager praised her on how fast she read.

I wondered where exactly she'd got this passion for reading from. Certainly not Lloyd, he'd avoid books like the plague. Maybe her mother?..

Life continued in it's same old roundabout way for four years, until, two weeks after Kara's twelfth birthday, a message arrived for Kratos. He wouldn't say what is was about, even under relentless interrogation from Kara, but from the way his face set in it's stone mask as soon as it was mentioned, I assumed it couldn't be good.

What exactly could get Kratos Aurion so worried?

* * *

Okay, mostly loose ends, and a short excuse for a chapter. This is mostly transition, looking a bit deeper into the characters, and next chapter there's some proper plot! And two, possibly three plot twists are started! 


	13. Tasha

I was really pleased with the amount of reviews I got last chapter – I want to continue with this, but I have another story which currently has my attention, so apologies to you! (Between Regeneration, a crossover that I haven't posted, Don't Die (which may be discontinued for a while sigh), and random oneshot ideas that burst into my head about school buning down, I hardly seem to have time for this anymore! But, I really like this story!

I don't, surprisingly, own Tales of Symphonia.

* * *

Kara's POV

It'd been three days of hard marching and still Kratos wouldn't say what we were here for. To be honest, I wasn't sure where 'here' was.

At the top of a shallow hill, sat a traditional castle, surrounded by a city – built of brick – which, in turn, was surrounded by a wall, who's only weakness seemed to be the gate in front of us. For a 'weak point' the gate seemed thick and sturdy enough to withstand most attacks – and there were guards stationed outside in any case.

For all this, the city didn't look hostile – far from it. It seemed familiar, as if I'd been here before, but a long time ago…

I was struck with a sudden brainwave. "Kratos, is this Meltokio?"

"It is," he acknowledged.

I was excited. Big cities meant shops. And I was old enough to explore on my own…

"There is no way I am letting you explore Meltokio," Kratos commanded sternly, as if reading my thoughts.

"What?!" I shouted loudly – birds flew out of nearby trees in alarm.

"You haven't proved yourself responsible enough. Besides, I don't want to lose you in a big city."

"We could meet outside the city – no matter if I do get lost, I can always find the city outskirts. And how can I prove that I'm responsible if you won't give me a chance?" I protested desperately.

"No."

"I looked after myself for a year! When I was seven!"

"You are controlled by your emotions. Remember when you attacked me?"

I blushed slightly from embarrassment. "You know why," I mumbled. "And I've learnt from my mistake; I won't do it again!"

"I said 'no' and I mean 'no'." Kratos' voice became louder, shocking me.

He'd never shouted before – normally he had enough authority in his voice anyway. However, I was still angry at the unfairness of the situation, and I was shouting, "Just because you don't _have _any emotions doesn't mean everyone _else_ has to abandon them too!"

I stormed off into the nearby woods, letting my pent up tears fall now I was out of sight. Noishe padded along quietly beside me.

**He only does that because he cares about you.**

I was a lot calmer now, maybe because the forest reminded me of the Yggdrasil tree.

"I know; it's just that…he always irritates me. I can be perfectly alright and mature, but then he speaks to me and I blow up and have a tantrum like a little kid," I explained despondently.

**You're exaggerating. Besides, what's the matter with behaving immaturely every once in a while? You _are _twelve, after all.**

"But I was taught not to be immature – it could cost someone's life one day," The phrase slid off my tongue easily, the result of being raised in Mizuho.

**I _have _noticed that he speaks down to you, **Noishe agreed. **Maybe if you get treated as a little kid, you at like one too.**

"Why can't he just trust me?" I sighed.

I wandered back to Kratos slowly, absentmindedly wondering when I'd thought of him as Kratos, and not Granddad. I remember that I'd called him Granddad a couple of times, but he'd seemed awkward with it, so I hadn't bothered.

When I got back, he asked coldly, "Where were you?"

I counted to five slowly, remembering what Noishe had said. 'He's only doing this because he cares about me.'

When I was sure I wouldn't start shouting again, I replied warmly, "I was only just in the forest. If Noishe hadn't been with me, I wouldn't have gone that far."

"What if someone was still looking for you?" I knew he was referring to the half-elves that attacked Mizuho.

"You were still within earshot. Besides, I can defend myself, and I doubt Noishe would simply ignore the situation if I was attacked."

**If anyone thinks they can attack you and get away with it, they obviously don't know Protozoans that well, **Aria included, resting her head on her forepaws.

Kratos made a noise that sounded to me like a child huffing.

Noishe merely padded up to Kratos, gave him a glare, then circled behind my legs, sitting down. The gesture was obvious – he was on my side.

"Well?" I asked.

" 'Well' what?"

"May I go into Meltokio, please?"

**If he doesn't let you, I suggest just running away, **Hiko input.

"No, I'm not going to run away just because I didn't get my own way."

Kratos wasn't fazed by the seemingly random remark – he'd grown used to me speaking with the Protozoans.

"I take it those three are against me on this one," Kratos assumed wearily.

Noishe gave him an extremely smug nod.

"Fine, I'll let you explore Meltokio on your own. But you have to stay with me until we get to a meeting place."

"Thank you!" I gave him a quick hug before he had chance to refuse, then began a quick walk forward.

"Come on!"

**Calm down, the city isn't going anywhere! **Noishe said mirthfully.

Noishe, Aria, Hiko and I played a chasing game to make time go quicker – there were still five fields to cross and Kratos refused to go any faster than a quick marching pace.

Eventually, the tall gate was in front of us.

"Keep close," Kratos warned.

As the gate opened, my senses were overwhelmed. People of every size milled about in large crowds, wearing so many different styles and colours of clothing it almost hurt to look. Noise – footsteps on the ground, dogs barking, voices gossiping, children shouting…and other sounds that were lost in the mix.

I followed Kratos closely, wondering why exactly we had to cut straight _through_ the crowd instead of around them. Then it dawned on me; there was no _room_ to go around! The square was packed.

Picking our way through one packed street, then another. It seemed to get less crowded the further we went on, but we seemed to be taking so many side streets and turns that I couldn't have found my way back. I realised why exactly Kratos was reluctant to leave me alone here – I was starting to get nervous myself. Surely there was a trick to finding your way around?

My thoughts melted away when I saw a group of children my age playing some kind of ball game in one of the less crowded plazas.

"May I?" I asked Kratos.

He sighed. "Fine. I'll send Honohiko to find you in an hour or so, so stay outdoors."

**He _will _send me, will he? **Hiko asked, partly indignant about not being asked, and partly because Kratos refused to use his nickname.

"Please, Hiko."

**I didn't say I _wouldn't_. I just like to be _asked_.**

"Thank you, both of you!" I hugged Kratos quickly – smiling because I knew he felt awkward – and then jogged over to the children.

"May I play?" I asked shyly, inwardly cursing myself that I wasn't bolder.

"You aren't from here," One boy pointed out rudely.

"Yeah, no freaks!" Another drawled; drawing titters from the group.

"Besides, you're a _girl_."

A nearby group of girls – who'd previously been gossiping and watching the boys play – came over, after hearing that comment.

"And just what do you have against girls?" One with blonde hair shouted.

"Girls are so _weak_," The boy sneered.

"Do you want to take that to the practice courts?" She asked, a mischievous spark in her eyes.

"Yeah, go on then," The boy cockily replied – not for a second believing that a _girl _would actually challenge him to a swordfight and be serious.

"See you in an hour, then." The blonde turned, walking away – while everyone, boys and girls alike, were staring after her, mouths wide open.

I decided I should go up and thank her, so I caught her up. "Um…" I started, tugging absentmindedly at my unfastened hair. "Thanks."

"Hey, no problem. Those boys were getting too big for their boots anyway – it's time someone beat them in a duel."

"What?!" I practically yelped. "With swords? Are you serious?"

"I'm not _that _bad, you know!" She gently teased. "It's only with wooden swords anyway. So, what's your name?"

"Kara."

"Mine's Tasha. Mum's always trying to call me Natasha or 'Natty', though."

I would've liked to reply with an embarrassing name my family had tried to call me, but no one called me anything but Kara, so I changed the subject. "You fight much, then?"

"Are you kidding? I'm Meltokio's under 16 champion! I've been fighting since I was about…seven? Maybe eight."

"Yeah, I've been fighting a long time too. It wasn't really easy when I started out, because everyone, my family and my village kept making me use different weapons all the time – I just didn't have time to get used to one before they gave me another. Eventually though, they stopped, and I got used to using a katana."

I patted the hilt of the katana my Dad had made just for me – _Sigel Peorth_.

"My parents just asked me which weapon I think I'd prefer to fight with – and I choose a short sword." She patted the hilt of her weapon too. "Why don't we go up the training courts and wait for them? We could have a spar too, to warm up."

I grinned – I liked coming across new fighting styles and analyzing them for weak points.

"Sure."

Tasha picked her way through the less crowded streets confidently – she obviously lived here. Soon, I realised that even I could've found the practice courts easily; they were right beside the Coliseum, and I'd read more than enough books to know what it looked like. It was bigger than I expected, though.

"The training courts are free to use – they were built as an extension of the Coliseum a couple of years ago."

I already knew this – strangely, Kratos had given me the information after receiving a letter. He'd also said why the Coliseum had expanded – with the world whole as it now was, most of the soldiers and mercenaries were no longer needed, and to prevent a massive shift in the economy, more funding had gone into the Coliseum for ex-soldiers to have something to do.

The training courts were about eleven flat acres of ground. An archery range stood in the furthest corner, with several long- and cross-bow men aiming at various sized targets, some bigger than Kratos' shield, others as small as an eye. Around the middle were circles – sparing rings – with various grounds which could affect footing. Some were grassy, some were bare earth and some were gravel. Closer to us, there were wooden dummies – presumably for sword practice – and some wooden sheds.

"What's in there?" I asked, curious.

"Practice armour, wooden swords, spare bows…just general supplies that might be needed. They're free to use – perhaps on account of how rubbish they are – but in any case, you need to put down a deposit. You know, incase someone steals them. Why they'd _want _to though…"

"I've got my own practice weapon with me." I pointed out.

Because of traveling, and Kratos holding a practice session practically anywhere – including boggy ground – I'd taken to wearing my wooden sword on me at all times as well as my metal one.

"Very wise – all the swords you can borrow are either built really heavily as if they expected the Regeneration heroes to come in at any second," She didn't notice my slight wince, so didn't pause, "or they're made really flimsily, as if the rest of us couldn't lift a toothpick."

"You have your own practice weapon on you, then?" I asked, now puzzled – she only had one sword strapped to her waist.

"Yep, hang on a second."

She reached into one pocket and brought out a hand-sized disc with small, circular buttons on it. She stabbed at a few quickly, with the ease of someone with practice, and a wooden sword materialized beneath it, dropping to the ground with a substantial 'thud'.

"It's based on the wing pack technology," She explained, having seen my awestruck face. "Pretty neat, huh?"

"Wow. And to think I had to carry mine the old-fashioned way," I remarked, gesturing to the pair of swords strapped to my waist.

"Doesn't that trip you up?"

I shrugged. "Not really, I'm used to it. So, are we going to spar or what?"

"Alright." Tasha jumped over the fence, with one hand supporting her weight, and walked towards one of the sparing circles. I noticed she choose the one with bare ground – it'd have good, even footing and it'd be difficult to trip.

I followed. We stood on opposite sides of the ring.

"First one in the mercy position loses?" I asked.

A nod from Tasha; the first person with a wooden sword at their neck or back would lose.

"Ready?"

I nodded.

"Begin."

She went in quickly, hoping perhaps to catch me off guard, but I had purposely stood my ground, blocking the first attack. I took a quick estimate of her strength while our wooden weapons collided – she was perhaps slightly stronger than me – then drew back quickly, breaking the lock.

I quickly slashed where she'd left herself open to attack, and drew back again, already prepared for a counterattack. Then, I knew; Tasha had the advantage in terms of strength, but I was quicker, and could trust my instincts because of my constant training. While Tasha was by no means new to the sword, she hadn't trained for as long, or as frequently as I had. And, of course, she wasn't Mizuho born and bred like I was.

She tried to attack my shoulder with a downward slash – I merely sidestepped, performing my own attack, which was easily blocked. For a while – maybe as long as five minutes, we simply blocked each other's blows and counter-attacked, trying to tire each other out. Like that was going to work – all my life seemed to have been spent outdoors, either training, or playing with the Protozoa. Tasha probably realised this, and took a risk, raising her sword high, and bearing down with her strength and gravity. I blocked the attack, pushing back her wooden blade and sidestepping. She'd put almost all her remaining strength into the attack, and her momentum carried her forward.

I placed the flat of the blade on her neck.

"Mercy," She requested, breathing quickly.

I took the practice weapon away from her neck and returned it to my sheath.

"Wow, it's been a long time since someone other than Mom or Dad bested me in a fight!" Tasha sounded impressed. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Here and there. I started training really young and never skipped practice, that's all. And I had some really good teachers, I suppose," I admitted, paying a small compliment to Kratos.

After all, Kratos _was _a good teacher. He was just a bit lousy when it came to being a Granddad.

"Anyway, do you want to fight those idiot boys when they show?"

"Huh? But their agreement was with you; it'd be against the rules…" I protested.

"They might change their mind anyway. And you don't have to if you don't want to, I just thought I'd give you the chance."

"Well, I certainly don't mind beating that guy to a pulp."

"Speak of the devil." Tasha muttered, looking over my shoulder.

The group of boys had come, along with the girls that had been talking to Tasha earlier. Now though, the girls shot Tasha a dirty look.

"Fine." She muttered, rolling her eyes. "Opportunist popularity freaks."

"Huh?"

"It looks like they won't soon forgive me for this – some friends they were."

"Sorry, I'm still confused."

"Well, they are the type of girls who think a chipped nail is the biggest disaster in the world, and they are happy to be dolls their entire life, fit only to marry." Tasha gave a disgusted snort. "Noble girls. Of course, it doesn't help that half of them have a crush on the guy that we're challenging to a duel."

"Oh."

"So, _Na_tasha," one of the boys drawled, putting emphasis on the hated first syllable of Tasha's name. "Which one of you two is gonna fight?"

"We don't mind," She said coolly. "You pick."

I could see the cogs working in the boy's mind – it'd be funny in any other situation. He had Tasha, the Meltokio under 16 champion, or me, the slightly shorter, slightly skinner little girl.

He chose me – I accepted, hiding a grin. This'd be interesting.

* * *

I've had this in mind for ages. Sorry it took so long to update, but at least it's a decent sized chapter!

Please review? makes Arshis eyes


	14. The Problem

Ack! Sorry, sorry, I'm really sorry! I just seem to spend more time on the Internet during the week, and I never have spare time at the weekend. Anyway, thanks to anyone still reading!

I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

* * *

Compared to Tasha, fighting the boy was an insult. He swung blindly with his sword, relying on power alone to win. And he wasn't even that strong when it came down to it.

Needless to say, I won, leaving a crowd of gaping boys to disbelieve the situation. I turned away in disgust – _I _knew that I'd won the fight, and that's all the proof I needed.

Across the training courts, a teenager had been watching my fight with interest. He was probably two years older than me, with weird green-blue hair cut short. His hair marked him as a half-elf quite obviously, which made me wonder how hard his life had been. Even in this regenerated world, it seemed humans still liked to victimize those who are different. He was wearing little better than rags.

His sky-blue eyes met mine, and with a shock, he realised that I'd seen him. He turned and fled.

"Wa…wait!" I shouted after him, but it was too late.

"Who are you shouting at?" Tasha asked.

"A boy – he was watching the fight, but just ran off…"

"Well, you can't expect to know every person in Meltokio," She reasoned.

Suddenly, Hiko swooped down with a scroll of paper.

I wondered out loud at this. "Why did he give you a letter, he could've just asked you to-"

**Just read the letter.**

I scanned over the letter quickly. It was little more than a note.

_Kara, Hiko will tell you everything; he's carrying this letter in order for you to seem less suspicious._

"Oh." I suddenly realised what Tasha might say if I held a seemingly one-sided conversation with Hiko.

**Are you ready for the message now?**

I nodded discreetly.

**I'm supposed to lead you back to Zelos Wilder's house. But…**

"Why is there always a 'but'?" I muttered.

**I only know how to get there as the crow flies. Of course, I could direct you from overhead, but it'd take ages…**

"Why don't I just ask Tasha where it is? Maybe she'd know, or she'd know how to find out where it is."

**You do that.**

"Tasha, do you know where Zelos Wilder's house is?" I asked.

She looked up, surprised. "Sure, almost everyone knows where it is. Come on, this way."

I was being quickly led round the streets of Meltokio before I had a chance to refuse. Hiko, using some quick thinking, perched on my shoulder, and gripped it hard to stay on.

"Hiko, that hurts, you know!" I whispered as his claws dug into my skin.

**Sorry. **He apologised and loosened his grip.

It took barely ten minutes at Tasha's quick pace. It helped that Tasha knew the least crowded streets like the back of her hand. We eventually popped out of a side street onto a posh looking plaza. Some people looked at me with distaste – I noticed that my simple clothes had got creased in the fights. Tasha ignored them, and led me straight to one of the biggest houses on the plaza.

It suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea what to do. Should I ring the doorbell? Knock? Try and find a servant's way in?

Tasha walked straight up the short path confidently and pulled out a key.

"What?.." I asked, only to be ignored.

Tasha unlocked the door and stepped in. I followed, bewildered.

"Take your shoes off," She said, quietly, before following her own advice. Then, louder, she yelled, "Mom, Dad, I'm home!"

"Home?" I asked, eyes wide with realization and disbelief.

"What? Didn't I mention?.." She wondered aloud with a mischievous grin. "I'm Tasha Wilder!"

She took off, still with a grin in place. I followed nervously.

In a small sitting room – far more homely than I could've imagined, not posh and expensive, like I'd thought – sat a man with long red hair, a familiar blonde woman, and Kratos.

"I take it Natasha only just told you?" The man with red hair said kindly, with a smile.

I nodded shyly.

"Natasha, you really shouldn't have done that," The blonde woman admonished gently.

"But, Mom, everyone around here knows who I am – they only like me because of my parents."

"Anyway, I didn't exactly tell her my last name either…" I said awkwardly.

"See, you don't mind, do you, Kara?" Tasha asked.

I quickly shook my head…and noticed Kratos' half-smile out of the corner of my eye.

"You knew, didn't you?" I accused.

"I noticed her, but I had no idea that you two would definitely become friends," He admitted.

"Anyway, we had a practice fight at the training courts, and Kara's even better than me! She defeated these boys no problem…" Tasha said excitedly, practically bouncing.

"These boys?" Kratos asked, edgily.

"Yeah, these boys challenged us to a fight because they thought girls were weak…"

Kratos glared at me coldly. "You mean to say that in less than two hours on your own, you managed to get into a fight?"

"You make it sound like I was deliberately seeking a fight!" I protested. "Besides, it was with wooden swords, on a practice court. Nothing could've gone wrong!"

"You still managed to get into a fight in less than a day here! This is exactly why I didn't want you going off by yourself!"

I could feel anger welling up, and in my struggle to control it, I hardly noticed where I was, or that Tasha and her family visibly shrank back from our argument.

"So _that's_ what you meant by that 'Aurion thing'," Tasha whispered with realization to her parents.

"Why are you always so unreasonable? Everything has to be perfect, doesn't it?" I almost shouted.

Kratos paused, taken aback, without knowing what exactly to say – a rare situation for him to be in.

"Just say exactly what you think for once – stop hiding yourself!"

I saw from Kratos' expression that I'd cut straight to the heart of his cold demeanor.

"Would it be so bad? To just let yourself show…" I asked quietly, diffusing my own anger.

"You're right," Kratos muttered. "Lately…I've been acting in a way that would disgrace the Aurion name."

"Admitting your problem is the first step to getting rid of it," Tasha murmured, only to be shot a quick glare from Kratos.

"Kara…I'm sorry."

I smiled; I was half-tempted to ask him to repeat those words, sure that I'd never hear them from his mouth again.

"That's all I needed to hear. Just remember, no one's perfect," I said, vaguely wondering when I'd become so insightful.

**Thanks, Kara, I've wanted to do that for ages. **Noishe commented.

"Huh?"

**Bring him down a peg or two – remind him what it means to be human.**

"You could've asked me to do that for a couple of years now; I wouldn't have objected."

**I knew you were getting round to it. **Noishe gave an Arshis' equivalent of a grin.

"So, you can understand Noishe?" Tasha's mother asked.

"Um, yes…" I replied shyly, all too aware that Kratos and I had just had a shouting match in her home.

"Lloyd always wished he could understand him…" She reminisced sadly, before becoming more cheerful again. "I suppose you don't really remember me, do you?"

"Only just…didn't I come here on a holy day once?"

"That's right," She smiled. "Just call me Colette, okay?"

I felt weird; Kratos was the only adult I'd ever called by their first name. "Um…alright…"

Suddenly, Tasha drew attention to some clouds of black smoke coming out of the kitchen. Colette dashed in there quickly in an attempt to stop the smoke.

"You know, you could always get servants to cook," Kratos suggested.

"We do, occasionally, but she wanted a special dinner doing herself…" The man with red hair replied.

Watching the smoke billow out into the room, Tasha muttered, "There goes the 'special dinner'."

Colette came back into the room pretty quickly. "There's no hope for it – I've never seen anything so black."

"What shall we do now?"

Tasha held up a telephone – one of the few pieces of magitechnology I was familiar with.

"Takeaway?"

The order consisted of several large pizzas and sushi – the sushi being for me originally, but Kratos refused to eat pizza, muttering something about 'T-fruit', so the sushi order was extended.

We ate in a slightly expensive looking dinning room – it seemed only to be used for guests.

"Mom?" Tasha asked. "I don't mean to be rude…Mr. Kratos, but why are they here?"

I realised with a start that I didn't know myself why I was here.

"Kratos, you don't mind if I tell them?" Colette asked.

"You may as well – I have no doubt you're going to inform Natasha, and she's likely to tell Kara in any case."

"Well, lately there's been reports of elves and half-elves not being able to use magic."

"I already know that – it's in the news all the time." Tasha interrupted. I was somewhat shocked at the interruption; I would never have dared do that back in Mizuho, especially not in front of company. But was that because of my upbringing, or just my general quietness?

"This also affects your father and I." She muttered quietly.

"Why? You don't have any elven blood, I'd know if you did."

"It's only a tiny amount – most people would never notice it. All it means is we can use some weapon techniques that 'pure' humans can't. But, more importantly, your father…"

The red haired man carried on here. "I have aionis in me – it means I should be able use most mid-leveled spells."

Tasha nodded, quietly absorbing this information. "So, your magic's gone too…"

"May I interject?" Kratos asked, before butting in anyway. "Does this affect the Cruxis Crystals at all?"

I gasped under my breath – between Noishe and books, I'd had a pretty good grounding in Exspheres and their evolutions, Cruxis Crystals.

"We were…hesitant to test them while Natasha was in the house…" The red haired man admitted.

"Why?" Tasha asked. "I know you're angels, no matter how hard you hide it. I know I can never get away with anything while you two are in the house. And when Aunty Raine visits, she tells me some things that history lessons in school miss out."

"Raine told you about us?"

"She needed a lot of guiding, but if you play on her love of teaching, you can get almost anything out of her."

"I hope you haven't been manipulating your teachers the same way," Colette admonished.

"Not often. Anyway, you two wanted to test the Cruxis Crystals?" Tasha asked.

Colette closed her eyes for a moment, smiling peacefully, before two pink, sparkling wings slid effortlessly out of her back. "Thank goodness, they're still there."

The red-haired man did the same; his wings were bright orange.

Despite expecting the wings, Tasha gaped slightly - she probably didn't expect them to be so beautiful. To be honest, neither did I.

"Kara," Kratos began, but I guessed what he was about to say.

"You're a seraph."

"How did you-?"

"Noishe. By the way, happy five-thousand and thirty first birthday…that's supposed to be around now, right?"

He gave a rare smile. "Nice try. But both Noishe and I gave up counting after the first couple of millennia."

"So, how did you expect Kratos to help?" I wondered.

"Well, he has more experience in these things – we thought he may have an idea of what was going on."

Kratos thought for a while. "I can come up with several possibilities, but they all seem unlikely. Normally, I'd suggest looking for a link; something that you all did or didn't do that would cause this to happen. However, on this scale, it'd be almost impossible."

"But wouldn't that make it easier, as there are less possibilities?" I asked.

"True…however, it's hard to think of a variable that could affect the entire city. The air itself being just about the only one…"

"We don't actually need to know what caused it if we can find a cure, right?" Colette asked.

"But, it'd be highly improbable to find a cure without knowing what caused this in the first place." Kratos looked them in the eye, and spoke the harsh truth, "A cure may not even exist."

* * *

Yay, a chapter done! And it's a decent sized one! I'm also kinda hyped that I have a character that can argue with Kratos like an equal, and not end up dead!

Oh, and one person reviewed last chapter, predicting Tasha's parents. (or, at least one of them) Congrats. If anyone wants to try that on any other characters I bring in, you're welcome to (but from now on, it gets tricky!).

And about the 'T-fruit' - incase you couldn't guess, that was tomatoes. I have a friend who refers to them as the 'dreaded T-fruit', so I decided to use that.

Please review – after the next chapter or so, I'm kinda stuck for ideas!


	15. Bonus Chapter, The Orphan

Okay people, this is a bonus chapter, following the half-elf from last chapter (cause I thought that the guys trying to guess the parents could do with a few hints) It's in third person (OMG, I wrote something in third-person instead of first-person!)

I don't own Tales of Symphonia, but I'll attack you with a Tegg if you sue me! (Tegg's my really mental friend!)

* * *

He kicked at the cobbles beneath his muddy feet as he walked. 

Tyr the unclean. Tyr the freak.

Tyr had a collection of vile names he'd been called because of his hair colour. It was fate's little trick, to give him teal green hair that shouted out of his equal parts of human and elven blood. Everyone despised him on sight, just because of his hair. Although people said that there was less discrimination towards half-elves these days, no one believed it. Tyr only had to talk to the half-elf researchers in Meltokio to know that although the law cannot keep them in their labs, they would be unable to find work elsewhere, so they cannot leave.

Tyr had never known his parents – they'd both died when he was two – he couldn't remember a thing about them. He had the feeling that he'd never properly met his father, although, that could be his mind playing tricks on him. His brother – on one of the rare occasions when he wasn't drunk – had told Tyr that humans had murdered them. Tyr wasn't sure whether to trust that information – drink had rotted his brother's mind to the point of violence, which was the main reason why Tyr had run away.

Surely life would be better – even in the slums – than it would be at home? It was, but only marginally. Tyr had never been overfed by his brother, but even he managed to lose weight, living of the scraps he could find. And it was dangerous in the slums; diseases thrived in the dirty water, you'd be mugged if you didn't look like you could hold onto your food and every night, you'd put up with filthy rats snuggling up against you, because they'd be your early warning system against intruders.

Still, Tyr had been incredibly luckily. He'd managed to get off the streets a mere week before tuberculosis had taken the slums in its deathly grip, all because he'd been offered an apprenticeship in the local blacksmiths.

Tyr snorted derisively at his own naïve way of thinking – back then, he hadn't known that apprentices were little more than slaves, working for no wage, little food and cheap lodging. At first, he'd thought it was a miracle – now, he knew better.

Right now, he was out on an errand, and for once he didn't need to hurry. When he'd left, the forge master and his wife had been drinking themselves into a stupor and Tyr didn't want to be there while they were still awake.

Tyr didn't see the point in alcohol – he'd tried some of his brother's beer once before, and detested the taste. It just seemed to be fashionable for adults to get drunk, and it was a stupid fashion.

Tyr passed by the training courts, where he heard the distinctive noise of a crowd and the dull thud of wood on wood.

_Amateur noble boys again, _he thought, but stopped to watch anyway.

He was fairly skilled with a weapon himself – he'd been taught to use a glaive a long time ago, although he was slightly rusty. A glaive is basically a wooden pole or shaft with a sharp piece of metal on the end. In the streets, Tyr had picked up the skills of disarming people and using daggers.

The fights he saw normally at the training courts disgusted him – there is no style or skill involved with swinging a sword blindly. In fact, Tyr was about to turn away – he was so sure this'd be one of these fights – but then he realised that this fight was nothing of the sort.

A girl was nimbly dodging the crude attacks, her glossy black hair flying behind her, accenting her effortless grace. She flowed from one movement to the next, fluidly linking a slash to an uppercut, round to blocking his attack with ease.

This girl seemed to understand that fighting wasn't just about winning; it could be an art form, too. The fact that she was fighting someone so obviously unskillful didn't mean that she stooped to her opponent's level; instead, she rose above it.

By the time she'd finished, the boy she'd been fighting looked utterly disgraced. His friends, who'd been watching the fight, called the girl a cheat, and tried to pretend the fight never happened. Tyr had the overwhelming feeling he was a sore loser.

The girl looked around, happy at winning, and somewhat surprised at the newly gathered crowd. She scanned through the crowd, her bright eyes finally resting on the teenage half-elf.

Her beautiful, chocolate-coloured eyes flicked up to Tyr's hair, and he knew that she'd worked him out as a half-elf. Until that moment, he hadn't realised that he'd been admiring her, and with a bump, his mind returned to the real world. She would never see him as anything more than a disgusting half-elf.

Tyr turned and ran, cursing himself. In those few seconds, he'd allowed himself the illusion of normality. Even if he hadn't been a half-elf, why should an obviously high-class girl like her look twice at an ex-street kid?

Tyr returned to the smithy despondently, starting his day's task – making nails. Any smith's apprentice starts off by making nails, as they don't require too much concentration and they're boring to boot. The task for Tyr was so easy that his mind wandered back to the girl on the training courts.

She lingered in his mind all day, constantly haunting him. Finally, he lay down his tools, and grabbed his pitiful supper of hard bread and cheese.

He ate it, as always, in silence, then went off to his itchy, straw-filled mattress and tried to banish this desperation that now filled him since seeing that girl and knowing she would never bother with him.

On the borderline of sleep, an eerie, haunting tune floated through the open window. It was sad, but spoke of hope and new beginnings and equality… The tune soon got Tyr fully awake, and soon, it was all that filled his mind. Beyond that, all was blank…

* * *

Ah, the snot thickens! Normally, I say: 'Such-a-such character is based on me', but Tyr is my polar opposite! This chapter promotes alcohol as evil, but I was drinking a shandy while writing this!

Please review, next chapter the plot really starts moving!


	16. In the Rainy Midnight

The ToS anime looks so cool! I have a video clip constantly looping on my computer, **right now**. It's the only way I could actually manage to do anything like typing on a certain fanfic that feels a little abandoned… 

I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

* * *

Kara's POV

The adults talked about possible reasons for the magic not working – and they got no closer to an answer – before deciding Tasha and I should go off to bed. I was in the bedroom right next door to Tasha, and we could've tapped between the walls to send messages. But, as Tasha said, it was too much hassle, and the adults would probably hear the messages better than us.

I got myself a last drink of water from the on-suite bathroom, marveling at the taps. Back in Ozette, we got water from the well.

Then, yawning, I slipped under the thick, warm duvet, closing my eyes. My last conscious thought before I fell asleep was about how everything was so different here…

Later, I woke up suddenly. I had no idea how long I'd been asleep for, but the sky outside was still dark. A light rain had begun to fall – not enough to wake me, surely?

While I knew I should get back to sleep, I didn't feel sleepy. Something just felt…wrong. I tried to remember if I'd ever felt like this before, and could only come up with one other experience. The air felt like it had done when Mizuho got destroyed.

In a panic now, I ran to the window, expecting to see fire and destruction. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be wrong – buildings were still intact, rain formed small puddles on the cobbled streets and if I strained to hear, the cries of small animals outside Meltokio could just be heard.

Yet, that feeling didn't go away. I _knew _something was wrong. If I'd been back in Ozette, I'd be running around all the corners of my house, checking nothing was wrong. But here, in someone else's house, my shyness crippled me. It wasn't polite to go nosing around someone else's home, especially not in the middle of the night.

I paced my bedroom nervously before the creak of a door opening caught my attention. I stuck my head out of my own bedroom to see who it was.

"Tasha," I whispered. "You're up too?"

"Yeah, I just woke up and I'm not sleepy and there's this feeling, like…"

"Like something's wrong, but you don't quite know what it is?"

"Yeah. Let's have a look downstairs."

Tasha took one step towards the stairs when the electric lights blazed on, surprising us. We both turned round to find out who'd turned on the lights.

"Mom," Tasha sighed – this'd probably happened before.

"Why are you still up?" Kratos asked from behind me.

I tried to come up with a reply that didn't sound cheeky, and failed. "Why bother to ask? You heard what we said just now."

"True. So, I'm to take it that everyone woke up at the same time, with this feeling of foreboding?" He turned to Colette, who nodded. "Right, I'm going to find out what's going on. Everyone else, stay here."

"I want to come too." I announced quickly.

"No." He refused flatly.

"But…"

"Kara, you know I don't want you to get hurt." He said softly, this time, letting his emotions show.

I smiled softly – I was glad he was letting us see his feelings – but I still protested, "I can look after myself. Besides, I can't think of a safer place than under your protection."

"Flattery isn't going to work," He warned.

For a moment, I hesitated – I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but didn't want to, because of the impact it'd have on everyone. Eventually, though, I said it. "After Mizuho, I felt guilty, because I'd run and done nothing. The only thing that helped was the fact that I _couldn't _have done anything – I wasn't strong enough. But now, if I stand by, and do nothing, I'll carry that guilt for my whole life."

"Kara, I trust you to make a judgment on your own skills," He said finally. "Do you feel ready?"

"Yes," I replied, confidently and without hesitation – I was so pleased Kratos was finally trusting me.

"Come on, then."

Kratos took the stairs at a trot, swiftly traveling down them, grabbing a small bag on his way out. I knew the bag contained gels and potions for fighting, and Kratos already had his sword strapped on him. So did I; one of the good things about growing up in a ninja village was learning to always be prepared.

Tasha followed us down the stairs, too. Kratos turned round and looked questioningly at me.

"It's up to her if she wants to come along – and her parents, of course," I added quickly. "When we were sparring, the first thing that really struck me was how well trained she was…well, for someone not brought up in Mizuho, anyway."

Tasha stuck her tongue out at my comment, then glanced at Colette.

"I'm not really happy with this, but you're just going to kick up a fuss anyway. Just behave, okay?"

"Don't worry, Mom, I will." Tasha grabbed her own sword, and we stepped out into the night.

The streets were dimly lit, and the light reflected off the puddles and made glowing circles in the lightly falling rain. We heard a light thud of paws, and Noishe and Aria were outside too, apparently trying to get my attention.

"What?" I asked quietly.

Noishe glared at me almost angrily.

"What is it? Why are you angry?"

He didn't talk for half a minute – worrying me.

"Noishe? Please, say something." A tear joined the light moisture already on my face.

Another half minute of silence, during which Noishe looked pleadingly at me.

"I can't hear you anymore…" I whispered, realization dawning.

"Kara," Kratos began gently, "We need to start moving."

I drew a deep breath to stop my tears – they weren't noticeable in the rain anyway. "I know. Let's move."

Noishe grabbed the hem of my kimono gently with his teeth, and even more gently, tugged me.

"You want us to follow." I said – a little pleased that I could somewhat understand them.

Noishe nodded, and softly trotted through the darkness, with us three following him.

Along the way, a soft strain of music met my ears. It was quiet, but perfectly audible, with words I didn't understand. However, that wasn't the case for everyone here.

"I know that word," Tasha realised suddenly. "_Gobeithiol_…_Gobaith_ means hope, so _gobeithiol_ must mean…hopeful?"

"I presume your parents taught you bits of Angelic?" Kratos asked.

"Not much," Tasha admitted. "If I read anything in Angelic, I don't know what every word means, but I can pick out the key words and work it out. But I can't write it – there are too many complicated grammar rules."

"I can't make out much of the song – only odd words. It must be far away…"

"But, I can hear every word clearly," I said, puzzled. "I can't understand it, but I can hear it."

"Me too, but if Kratos can only just hear it with his angelic hearing…"

"That doesn't make any sense – it's almost as if it's louder to people with worse hearing."

"Or maybe its louder the younger you are."

"We won't figure anything out by remaining here," Kratos said.

I murmured an agreement and started following Noishe again. As I walked, I tried to fix the lyrics in my head.

_Yn yr enaid gobeithiol,_

_Cydraddoldeb i pawb, _

_Yn yr cân y pobl,_

_Cydraddoldeb i pawb,_

_Yn yr bywyd nesaf,_

_Cydraddoldeb i pawb,_

Here, the song changed its tune, becoming darker and more sinister. Instinctively, we picked up our pace, the now ominous words playing in our heads:

_Cyfarfa â dy tynged,_

_Mae bywyd nesaf wedi dod cyfagas…_

We turned a corner, to be met with the sight of many pointy-eared people, some of which we knew were half-elves and others we assumed they were. They were all walking in a trance-like state towards the city gates. Because of the sheer numbers, it was impossible to go any faster than the slow-moving crowd. We all knew we had to be at the front of the crowd, otherwise anything we'd try would be pointless.

"The rooftops." Kratos suggested quickly.

Tasha quickly climbed up a wall covered in ivy, while Kratos took out his wings and carried me up – not giving me a chance to argue. Once upon the roof, we ran down the street, jumping over small alleyways and hoping we didn't slip on the wet roof tiles.

We drew level with the front of the crowd, which were within spitting distance of the city gates. There, the gates were open, and a man in dark clothes stood facing the crowd. He wore a hooded cloak, which hid his face and protected him from the rain. What little face that wasn't hidden by the hood was hidden by a facemask – a black triangle of cloth that hid his nose and mouth. The most distinctive thing was a huge axe in his hands, dripping liquid. I wasn't sure whether it was rainwater…or blood.

As the crowd drew closer, the music faded away, and the man raised the axe, poised perfectly to cleave the first half-elf's head in two with the heavy blade.

Kratos leapt forward and blocked the axe's head from coming down, by locking it with his sword, and struggled against it for a few seconds. I knew he couldn't keep it up – the man was a little taller than Kratos was himself, and the man had the added advantage of gravity and the weight of his weapon.

I helped – dragging the blank half-elves out of the way, so that Kratos could nimbly slide out of the lock and let the axe imbed itself harmlessly in the cobbled road.

I drew my own katana, with a hateful glare at the cloaked man in front of us. To my right, I heard the hiss of Tasha's sword being unsheathed too.

The man – by now, aware that he was outnumbered and weaponless, fled, sending the city gates behind him shut – so we couldn't follow.

Kratos slid the weapon that'd been left behind out of the ground – with some difficulty.

"This is heavier even than Presea's axe," He muttered.

"But I can't _lift_ that thing," Tasha protested. "How can that man _fight _with it?"

"It may be possible that he has an Exsphere – although where he got it from would be beyond me."

"Why, aren't there any Exspheres left?" Tasha asked.

I interrupted, "No, my Mom and Dad went on a journey before I was born to collect them all and destroy them."

By now, the half-elves were coming to their senses, and wondering what exactly they were doing outside at night in the rain.

I noticed a flash of teal hair – although how, I have no idea, since there was no end to the amount of different hair colours in the crowd. The teenager from the training courts was fighting his way through the crowd, trying to find out what was going on. However, upon seeing us, he tried to turn around and run away again, but the crowd was near impossible to get through.

"Hey," I said, running towards him. "Am I that scary? You ran away at the training courts too."

He turned round. Was it the dark, or was there a hint of a blush on his cheeks?

"Sorry, I…erm…I had stuff that needed doing."

The suspected blush deepened.

"Kara, who're you talking to?" Tasha asked good-naturedly.

"This guy I saw at the training courts today," I answered. Then, talking to the boy again, "My name's Kara, if you hadn't guessed."

"Mine's Tyr. Look, I just…woke up and found myself here. What's happening?"

"We aren't quite sure," I admitted. "It looks to me like all the half-elves in Meltokio were put under a trance to walk here, where this man would've killed you all."

"And you saved us?"

I nodded, smiling.

"Why?"

"Nobody deserves to die just because of their blood. No one can help being born the way they are. Mom and Dad always told me that – even if you're the only one who'll stand up for what's right, you should do it. If I hadn't had helped, it'd be dishonouring their memory too."

"But, we're half-elves. We're no one – lower than dirt…no one would miss us if we were to die."

"No. I believe every life is born equal, and dies equal. And if you run away every time someone tries to get to know you, of course no one will miss you. But don't you think that there are some people who'd want to know you?"

Behind me, Kratos commented, "You have your father's sense of righteousness. But it's keeping us out in the cold."

He was right – many of the half-elves had left in a hurry because of the rain and night chill.

"Sorry." I apologised.

"Tyr, do you want to come back with us – warm up for a bit?" Tasha offered.

"If it would be any hassle…"

"Not at all," Kratos insisted. "I'm sure Mrs. Wilder wouldn't object."

He gulped. "The Wilders? But…I don't belong in a high-class area like that! I'm an orphan, a street kid."

"I'm an orphan too," I said quietly. "I was just lucky enough to be found by the right people."

"Anyway," Tasha started, "Haven't I seen you somewhere before? Like…I know, you're the smith's apprentice, aren't you?"

He nodded shamefacedly.

"I don't envy you, they've never seemed like good people. I bet they only kept you because they know you can't get work anywhere else, so you have to work for cheap," Tasha said.

It was there that I got the impression that Tasha may not have been a very intellectual person, but she was practically minded and was good at analyzing people and situations.

"Come on," Kratos said dryly. "Unless, of course, you feel like talking here all night?"

We made our way back to Tasha's house, not in the least bit sleepy, despite our lack of sleep, thanks to the adrenaline still running in our systems.

Back at the house, we had to explain everything, while Colette made mugs of coffee and cocoa. Tyr tried to refuse the drink, saying it was too expensive, and they didn't need to, but because of Colette's adamant and giving nature, he had to accept it.

Eventually, the topic came round to the song that had followed us down to Meltokio's gate. Tyr admitted to hearing it just before blanking out. He also mentioned that he'd known a few words of the song.

"How? It was in Angelic," Kratos asked edgily.

"When I was little, I used to live with my brother. For some reason, he had several books in Angelic lying around. I taught myself while my brother was unconscious or asleep."

"Unconscious?" Colette asked.

"He was a violent alcoholic."

I felt grateful once again that the Protozoa had found me, and I hadn't had to suffer such a life. True, I'd had to provide for myself, sleeping outside, but from what I knew of city slums, I'd have chosen my life any day.

"So, what did the song actually mean?" I asked.

It seemed we couldn't answer that question well – everyone who'd heard the song clearly, couldn't speak, or only spoke a little bit of the language. But Kratos, who knew the language fluently, hadn't heard it clearly enough to make out the words.

"I think I remember it…" I muttered.

Between me, Tasha and Tyr, we managed to piece together a rough idea of the song for the adults to translate.

In the hopeful souls,

Equality for all,

In the people's song,

Equality for all,

In the next life,

Equality for all,

"Well, so far, that doesn't sound too bad," Colette commented.

"But there's more. After that, the music changed – it was sinister and…evil," Tasha insisted.

Meet with your fate,

The next life comes closer…

I thought on the lyrics awhile, before commenting, "Isn't is sort of luring, with the promise of equality for all? For people like half-elves who've never been given equality, it would be really alluring, wouldn't it? But also, did you notice that equality was everywhere but where it was needed, in the real world. It was in 'the people's song', in 'hopeful souls', but it wasn't given in _this_ life."

"Mmm," Tasha agreed, rubbing her eyes.

"You've been up long enough. Bed, now." Colette said. "And I'll have to set up a place for Tyr…"

"No, please, you've already been far too kind. I mean, I'm just a stranger to you."

"Don't say you enjoy living at the blacksmiths; they've been in trouble for whipping servants before now."

"But…"

"Tyr," I started. "Good things can happen, but you have to let them happen. Don't turn your back on luck."

"Okay." He said shakily. "Thank you, Mrs. Wilder, that's very kind of you."

"Don't mention it. Right, girls, off to bed."

"Alright," I yawned sleepily. "'Night."

And – cheesy though it sounds – I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow.

* * *

I can't believe I actually managed to write _Cydraddoldeb i pawb_! That is actually in a real language - Welsh. I'm not fluent (I constantly referred to a dictonary!) but to be able to write something like that... Anyway, I drew a (rubbish) picture of Tyr, which should be linked to my profile right now. Bear in mind that I'm not an artist (which is why I write, instead!) and I didn't have brilliant colours (there is no teal colour anywhere!)

Please review if you read this!


	17. Bye, Meltokio

I'm getting back into doing regular updates! Yay! Anyway, enjoy!

I don't own Tales of Syphonia.

* * *

After my eventful night, I would have liked to wake up to a slightly open curtain, letting sunlight stream across the room and birdsong drifting in through the open window. What I got was a grey sky and not enough sleep. 

I staggered over to the bathroom, still half-asleep, and splashed cold water on my face to revive me. Then I pulled on a plain robe in the style of a kimono, fixing it with my usual obi. I made sure Sigel Peorth was sharp, and in an easy to reach position. After last night, I felt that cities were a lot more dangerous than most people think. Finally, I dragged a brush through my charcoal-coloured curls, hoping to banish the bed-head I'd woken up with.

Feeling far more awake, I practically bounced down the stairs, not really happy, just full of energy.

A deep in thought Kratos chewed slowly on a piece of toast.

"What is it?" I asked, concerned – he'd had a similar expression when he'd received the letter that'd brought us here.

"Apparently, magic has been disappearing from other places apart from here. Which means…"

"That man could be attacking half-elves in other cities!"

"Exactly. I suggest you pack, we'll be hitting the road sometime today."

I looked down; for a second, I was about to protest, saying I wanted to stay here with my new friends, but I knew I could do good elsewhere. I still felt guilty about wanting to stay though.

"Okay, just let me grab some breakfast."

I wandered into the kitchen as Tyr approached Kratos. Curious, I listened to the conversation.

"Kratos…sir, I couldn't help listening in, and I would like to come along too."

"Why should we take you?"

"This man is attacking half-elves – I want to help. Also, half-elves are more likely to listen to you if I'm there. And I'm not asking as a charity case – I can defend myself. If at any point you feel I'm not pulling my weight, you can send me home and I won't make a fuss."

"Okay, Tyr, you may come. Get something to eat first."

Tyr came into the kitchen and seeing that I'd listened in, blushed slightly. I ignored this, saying, "So, we'll be traveling together, huh?"

"Is Kratos like that with everyone?"

"Pretty much. It takes him a long time to get used to people. I guess you want something to eat, right?"

Tyr looked awkward, like he didn't want to admit it.

"You look half-starved; I'm sure I didn't look that bad when I was looking after myself."

"You were sleeping rough?"

"Sort of, I lived in the wild for a year before Kratos found me. Although, I guess I found _him_…"

"Or attacked him." He called dryly from the living room.

I blushed at that. "Or attacked him," I amended. "It sounded like he was hunting down my family – I panicked, alright? Anyway, back to food, I guess we get our own."

Tasha barged into the room, with a mock look of panic. "Sorry, for a second there, I was filled with terror – I wasn't sure if you knew how to use a toaster," She teased.

"No, I was planning on building a campfire in the middle of the kitchen and toasting bread on that," I retorted.

"Anyway, why stick to toast? I reckon there's some bacon in here somewhere," She muttered, going through the fridge – another piece of magitechnology I was familiar with.

Eventually, Tasha cooked bacon, eggs and fried bread for us all. While we were eating, Tasha's parents came in.

"Natasha, we think you should go along with Kratos and Kara," Colette said.

Wow, talk about the most shocking sentence of the morning.

"And Kratos agrees."

I stand corrected, _that _was the most shocking statement I'd _ever _hear.

"It's not as if you'll miss out on school, as you rarely listen anyway to anything besides History. And they won't teach you anything practical – which you will learn on the road. And you won't be a burden – you can defend yourself. And you can _make yourself useful_."

"Yes, Mom." She agreed, smiling. She gave both her parents a hug, before realizing, "I need to get some stuff packed!"

Tasha rushed off, leaving Colette to call behind her, "Pack _light_!"

"Well, that's something I don't have to worry about," Tyr commented.

"What?"

"Packing. I have nothing."

"Not even something from your family?"

"My only possessions are the clothes on my back, a couple of knives," at which he patted the underside of his arms, "and a makeshift glaive."

Now that I was looking to notice it, I saw the holster on his back, which carried a rather beaten and worn piece of wood, and a piece of metal atop it that looked dull and blunt.

"We need to get you something better than that," Kratos commented.

"I think there might be a glaive lying around here, actually," Colette commented, and went to look.

Five minutes later, she returned with the glaive in hand. Noting the style of the weapon, I looked it over.

The shiny, silver-blue metal was unmistakable – it was a special alloy created by the elves that they rarely parted with. I remember it took Dad a full month of haggling to get just one small shipment, even being 'the hero' and everything. When elves had parted with it, they'd made him swear to only use it for his personal weapons – he was not allowed to sell it.

When I saw the craftsman's mark on the glaive, I gasped. "Dad made this!"

"Yes. Lloyd sent it to us with the message to keep it until it was needed."

Kratos frowned; apparently, I wasn't the only one who found this as odd.

"How would he know that it'd be needed?" I wondered. No one could answer that question.

"I remember Dad making this – he only made three weapons from this metal. My katana – _Sigel Peorth_ – a short sword and this. He named them all. The short sword was _Eoh Tui_, and the glaive…_Nemesis_…"

"_Eoh Tui_ is Natasha's sword – Lloyd gave it to her for her birthday," Colette said, shocked.

"This is not just the working of fate," Kratos muttered suspiciously.

I nodded; this just seemed too incidental.

"It's almost as if Dad knew this would happen…" I thought aloud.

I handed the glaive delicately to Tyr, who hesitated. "Is it really alright for me to take this? It's one of the only things left of your Dad's."

"I have my own sword, and my memories. No one can ever take those away. Besides, what use would it do me? I can't wield a glaive."

"Alright," He took the glaive, testing the weight. "I have to say, your Dad knew what he was doing. Did he normally make glaives?"

"Nope, I think this is the only one. He made a lot of swords, but not many in the katana style – despite the demand for them." I smiled, remembering that Dad would only ever make what he wanted to make, and didn't take orders too well. "He did a lot of talismans, too."

Then I noticed Kratos' glazed over eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," He said gruffly.

Despite his words, I knew he still hurt from the loss of Lloyd. I put myself in his place – he probably felt guilty, going away on Derris-Kharlan and not being there to help at the time.

I hugged him, trying to reassure him.

He seemed to lighten up, grumbling, "What is it with girls and hugging?"

I noticed Tyr looked wistful. "You can have a hug too, if you want," I offered.

He blushed bright red – a complete clash to his hair. "N…no…" He stuttered.

Tasha came bouncing down the stairs, a backpack in hand. "What did I miss?"

"Only the discovery that all three of your weapons were created by Lloyd, and Tyr's cheeks can be used to light a way through fog."

Tyr's blush deepened – which most people would have thought was impossible.

Tasha smiled knowingly, looking between Tyr and me.

"What?" I asked, puzzled.

"Nothing," she said, still smiling infuriatingly.

I sighed, not liking not knowing something. "What time are we leaving?" I asked.

"As soon as possible. Natasha, you have packed?"

"Yes, everything's in here," she said, holding up her bag.

True to Kratos' word, we left as soon as possible, only stopping to buy some new clothes for Tyr, which he attempted to refuse without sounding impolite, only to fail, miserably.

To begin with, a semi-awkward silence fell – I was content to be quiet, trying to get to the bottom of the events that had taken place in the last day, marveling how long it'd seemed. Tyr wasn't too bothered by the silence, but looked as if he was about to say something, then thought better of it, almost every five seconds. Tasha was the most affected though – she didn't complain, but made small, very slight noises of disapproval, while shifting uncomfortably every couple of paces.

Eventually, Tasha broke the silence. "Can't _somebody _say _something_!"

"Alright, 'something'," I replied.

"Very funny," She muttered, rolling her eyes. "But come on, we hardly know anything about each other, we should be getting to know each other!"

"So, you want to ask some questions?" I inquired.

"If it's all right."

"Fine by me," Tyr consented.

"Well, first of all, the Protozoa haven't left your side all day, Kara."

"What?" I looked round to see Noishe by my side, Aria trailing behind me and Hiko flying directly overhead. I had grown so used to them that I'd hardly noticed they were there. "I suppose they're a little bit protective."

"Why?"

"Well, they found me; they sort of adopted me, I guess," I surmised, stroking Noishe's head.

"Why would they do that?" Tyr asked.

"At the time, I was only seven – I couldn't really fend for myself – I had no family and they took pity on me."

"I'm guessing that no one took pity on you," Tasha said to Tyr.

"Yes. No human, set aside you two, ever talked to me for any reason other to hurl insults at me or to issue commands. And livings on the streets, even half-elves are wary of each other, seeing as how mistrustful we've had to be to survive."

"That's terrible. I don't see why humans are so irrational sometimes," I said. "Surely, after the Regeneration journey, people realise that their actions are foolish?"

Tasha shook her head sadly, "That's what comes of being raised by an idealist and then shut off from most of the outside world."

"What do you mean?"

"People are deep set in their ways. Remember that many of the humans alive today either had family that the Desians killed, or they know someone who's had family killed by them. Our parents may have Regenerated the world, but we can't force people to see things clearly – it's impossible."

"But my Mom and Dad were killed by half-elves…" I muttered. "I don't hate the half-elves."

Tasha gently reasoned, "You were brought up that way – millions weren't."

"I think - I'm not sure – that my parents were killed by humans," Tyr countered. "Yet, I don't mind them – even considering how they've treated me in the past."

I thought a while before saying, "Did your brother hate humans?"

"Bitterly."

"And you don't like your brother," I reasoned. "Maybe you were just determined not to be like him."

"Or," Tasha supplied, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

Tyr fell silent at this.

"Hey, I didn't mean to offend you or anything," Tasha said apologetically.

"You didn't. I'm just thinking…you're probably right. And it's scary that I barely know you and you figured that out, while I've known myself my whole life and not figured it out."

"Mom always says I would be smart if I just pay attention," Tasha grinned.

"So, you go to school?" I asked, before realizing that it was an incredibly stupid question.

"Of course, didn't you have schools in Mizuho?"

"Yeah, but they were nothing like what I've heard about your schools. I heard you sit at a desk and listen to a teacher talk all day!"

"We do," Tasha said, giving me a strange look. "Why, what happened at your school?"

"We analyzed fighting techniques, sometimes – we spent a lot of time on our feet then. Obviously we learnt to write, and we mostly learnt practical skills. To be honest, I don't remember everything, and it probably would have changed when we got older anyway."

"Well, at our school we mainly listen to teachers and do written exercises to try and keep the knowledge in. Kara, how do you know so much?"

"Well, Noishe taught me most things about history, and pretty much everything else I probably read in a book somewhere."

Tasha was slightly stunned. "How can you be smarter than me but never having gone to a proper school?"

"I wouldn't say 'smarter'…"

"You are. Trust me."

"Well, I guess I watch, I listen and I read… Besides, when I'm told something, it just tends to stick, somehow…" I explained awkwardly. Then, to try and divert attention, I said, "What about you, Tyr?"

"I went to the school of hard knocks," He commented dryly. "I learnt a little from books, but I never was a big reader. A few words of Angelic here, a little theory of manipulating mana there…that's the sort of scattered education I have."

"Interesting though this is," Kratos interrupted, "It is getting dark, and I believe you want a full night's rest."

As if on cue, Tasha yawned.

"Right, Kratos, I'll get some firewood," I offered.

"Take Noishe with you," he reminded me, before giving jobs to Tasha and Tyr.

I turned to Noishe. "He should really stop giving you orders."

Noishe gave a sort of shrug – apparently he didn't mind.

"Alright then, we'd better get that wood," I muttered, following Noishe into a nearby forest.

We gathered up dry and mostly dry deadwood – the damper pieces would dry out next to the fire. It was a routine job for me, and I just tried to get it over with as fast as possible. After making sure I had some smaller materials to use as kindling – certain lichen worked extremely well – I headed back to camp.

Hating the silence that had fell since leaving the three, I commented sadly to Noishe, "I miss being able to hear you, all of you."

Noishe gave me a look which plainly said he felt the same way.

"What can I do?" I asked the dusk – of course, not getting any reply.

"What can I do?"

* * *

On my profile there are some rough ideas of what Kara, Tasha and Tyr look like if you want to see! They were made using Tektek, so they aren't exact, but I can't draw to save my life, so it's about the best I can do. And they have the right hair colour for Tyr!

Review please!


	18. Travelling

Okay, deepest apologies - I've been a little busy had a small writers block and the computer wasn't working (sigh). Anyway, I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

Also, a big thanks and a hug go to Hiei-Riku-RubedoFAN, for reviewing practically everything I've written. It's people like that that remind me we live in a wonderful world...and now I've gone all corny on you all!

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Kara's POV

I returned to the camp with my armfuls of wood, and started the fire. Tasha started cooking while Kratos explained the chore system.

"You can take it in turns to collect wood and cook. I'll stay on night watch permanently. So, today Kara collected the wood and Natasha is cooking, then tomorrow Kara can cook and Tyr can collect the wood, and so on."

I made a slight face at this – I didn't like cooking.

"Me? Cooking?" Tyr asked incredulously. "I can count the times I've had hot meals on my fingers."

"Don't worry," Tasha assured. "I'll teach you."

For the rest of the evening, I sat down in front of the fire with Noishe curled around me. When I began absentmindedly to stroke the fur on Noishe's head, he gave a small, disappointed whine.

"I know," I whispered. "I'm not the only one who misses talking, am I?"

Noishe gave a nod, before resting his head on his forepaws.

The dinner that Tasha made happened to be meat stew, which we served with some bread we'd brought in Meltokio. Tyr ate his as quickly as humanly possible, but when finished, he didn't ask for any more, although it was plain to see he was still hungry.

I took his empty bowl from him and put another ladleful in. "You look as if you could use it," I explained.

"Thanks," He quickly muttered, before wolfing the stew down.

"You don't have to eat quite so quickly, you know. You'll make yourself ill."

He slowed down, and said, "Sorry, force of habit."

"Why would it be habit?" I asked curiously.

"In the streets, food gets stolen easily. It's harder to take if it's in someone's stomach."

"Oh," I intoned, surprised. Tyr spoke of such ruthlessness so casually, and over dinner too.

Soon, Kratos forced us to bed…or rather, our pallets. Tasha seemed to fidget for ages, grumbling under her breath about the stony ground and the thin mattress. Tyr just seemed indifferent to our sleeping arrangement – although he did check several times that Kratos was taking night watch and that he'd be fine on night watch. I didn't really mind the basic beds – I'd had little better back in Ozette, purposely choosing a thin mattress from habit. The beds at Tasha's house had seemed almost too comfortable – as if I'd sink into them.

Noishe curled up besides me, and I closed my eyes, trying to go to sleep, but sleep just didn't seem to want to come. Still, I didn't want to worry Kratos, so I breathed deeply, as if I was sound asleep. After five minutes, I heard footsteps, toward the furthest pallet from me – Tyr's.

"Tyr, may I have a word?" Kratos asked in a whisper, so he wouldn't wake Tasha or me.

"Sure, have two," Tyr replied in the same quiet tone of voice.

I could imagine Kratos' frown at Tyr's cockiness as he asked, "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

"I don't think so. I suppose it's possible that you saw me as a baby, but I think I've changed a little since then."

"Quite. Who did you say your parents were?"

"I didn't. And I don't know. They both died when I was two – I can't remember either of them," Tyr said curtly.

"I apologise."

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to get some sleep tonight…_sir_," Tyr said, stressing the 'sir' sarcastically.

"Very well."

I heard more footsteps, which announced Kratos had walked back to his lookout, and I thought it safe enough to crack open an eye.

Tasha, apparently, hadn't got to sleep either, as she was looking at me with a slightly shocked expression. She tapped one ear, then gestured in the direction where the conversation had taken place. _Hear that? _Seemed to be the meaning of the gesture.

I nodded, then looked cautiously round to Kratos. He hadn't noticed that we were awake – yet. I knew it'd be a matter of time before he found out, so I tried to signal going to sleep – by folding my hands and resting my head on them.

Tasha nodded; at least she understood.

This time, when I closed my eyes, I let my tiredness overwhelm me, and I drifted off to sleep fairly quickly.

The following days passed by quickly – we set a fairly slow pace as Tasha wasn't used to long distance walking. Kratos stopped us at mid-day for weapons practice, which was often quite eventful. I knew Tasha would have been complaining all day if it had been any other adult with us, but she seemed to find Kratos hard to understand and they had a neutral silence between them. Tyr, on the other hand, disliked Kratos, and often asked how I'd survived for the last few years. This tension was seen the clearest during training sessions.

To begin with, Kratos normally gave us a basic strike-block exercise – one of us would attack, while the other blocked, and swapped over after a minute. Unfortunately, with only three of us, someone had to be paired with Kratos. That meant that one in three days, Tyr and Kratos were head-to-head…not good. However, it was entertaining to watch.

Tyr did know what he was doing with his glaive, and it hadn't taken him long to regain his former skill with the weapon. He had a slight advantage of speed; he was light on his feet with a skill he must have learnt from using knives. He was also strong – the hours of work in the smith's forge had done that. Added to the long reach of his weapon, he could certainly be equal in skill to many of the children in Mizuho, if it had left anyone alive.

However, Kratos had the edge in intelligence, skill and power, and every time Tyr strayed from the exercise, Kratos let him know it. Apparently, Kratos wasn't fond of Tyr. He didn't seem to have a high opinion of Tasha, either, but was resigned to her more annoying habits, knowing who her parents are. In return, she respected him, but didn't talk to him unless it was needed, and he did the same.

Tyr, Tasha and I got to know each other a lot better over the following days and we grew close. Every so often, though, Tasha gave us a smug look when Tyr and I had been talking, which thoroughly confused me. What did she know that I didn't?

However, I started to worry about Noishe. For two days and nights, he hadn't left my side, not even to eat. I could see his ribs jutting out and they made me nervous.

"Noishe, you have to go and get something to eat," I told him. "Or at least let us give you something…"

Noishe shook his head – he was too proud to be fed by humans, even if they had his best interests at heart. Eventually, Aria came over, and by her expression and body language, I could tell she was arguing with him. Eventually, she got Noishe to leave my side, albeit reluctantly.

"Aria, thanks. At least one of us can make him see sense…" As I spoke, Aria rested her head on my hand. "He's going to worry himself ill – he's taking this harder than me. And I know you two are worried about him. Make sure he gets something decent to eat, okay?" I gave Aria a brief, heartfelt hug.

I knew why Noishe felt so protective of me – or at least, I had a good idea. He still felt guilty about not being able to help Dad when the half-elves had attacked Mizuho, so he was doing the next best thing – protecting me. Even if that meant he stopped eating. Normally though, he could go away to eat without really worrying, but…he must have been worried by the events in Meltokio.

One day later, we were talking as we were traveling, when I heard a very fuzzy voice, as if it was coming through an out of tune radio. At first, I thought something might be wrong, but occasionally, the voice stopped for a matter of minutes before starting again. At first, it was so fuzzy that I couldn't even make out what it was saying, but over a matter of hours, it cleared up enough for me to make out words.

"Can anyone else hear that?" I asked.

"Hear what?" Both Tasha and Tyr's faces were concerned – apparently they couldn't hear anything.

"That…voice…" I said, before realizing I must have seemed mad.

"Kara. There's nothing there…no one spoke…" Tasha said worriedly.

"But, I've been hearing things all morning…" Seeing the look on their faces, I added hastily, "I'm not imagining things! Someone's been speaking all morning, it's just that…you can't hear it…"

…Kara heard..? While the beginning and the end of the sentence were cut off, I was sure the voice was asking. 

A second voice replied, **I think…**

"Listen, they spoke just then! They mentioned my name!" I protested, under skeptical looks from my friends. "It's true!"

"Kara, no one spoke…" Kratos said gently.

"I'm not mad…" I muttered.

Mad? Kara couldn't be called mad… 

**She doesn't actually know it's us speaking. Shouldn't we say it's us?**

A younger sounding voice protested, **Can't I just freak her out a bit more?**

Then, I worked it out. The voices, they were so familiar, and now I knew why…

"Hiko!" I shouted joyfully. "Noishe, Aria, it's you I can hear, isn't it?"

Noishe stood in front of me. **See, she's too clever to be mad – she worked it out on her own.**

Aria practically bowled me over, washing my face while anxiously asking, **How can you hear us again? Is the thing about half-elves not using magic…has it worn off?**

"I don't know. Tyr?" I called, suddenly aware that I was on the floor.

Tyr helped me to my feet while I asked, "Were you able to use magic before?"

He nodded. "Some, but don't you think that was a bit out of nowhere?" He asked, bewildered because he couldn't hear the Protozoans' side of the conversation.

"Have you tried using magic at all today?"

"No…why should I? It's been gone for months."

"Just try it, please."

Tyr nodded, muttering some words, ending with, "Grave!"

The earth in front of him created four-inch long fingers of rock, which stabbed into a central point. Although getting the earth itself to move was impressive, the attack seemed kind of…

"Isn't it a bit…pathetic? I mean, it's cute and miniaturised, but it's hardly going to injure someone. Unless they're a foot high…or a rodent," Tasha criticised.

"I don't see you casting any spells," Tyr remarked coolly.

"Anyway," I said firmly, breaking up a potential fight, "it might take a while to come fully back. It still sounds a bit fuzzy when I listen to the protozoa."

"So, you can hear them again?" Tasha asked.

"Yep."

Tyr gave me a skeptical look. "You can't _really_ understand the Protozoa, can you?"

"I can." I insisted quietly.

"Alright, just checking. No need to be offended."

"I'm not. I should really expect it…no one else has ever been able to understand them – so why should people believe that I can?"

Noishe pawed at my foot at this point, saying, **There's something…weird about Tyr. He smells familiar, but not familiar…**

"What? What are you trying to get at?"

**I don't really trust him.**

"Noishe!" I protested.

It's just this smell… Don't worry; I'm not going to do anything. I'll just keep an eye on him, okay?

I gave a small sigh – I knew I couldn't persuade Noishe not to, and just hoped he wouldn't be too invasive.

"What did he say, Kara?" Tasha asked.

"Um, nothing!" I said quickly, my eyes darting to Tyr for a moment.

"It was about me, wasn't it?" He asked.

I nodded reluctantly. "Noishe doesn't really trust you."

"That makes two of them," he muttered, talking about Kratos.

"I'm sorry about them," I apologised. "They're just protective…"

"We heard the conversation on that first night," Tasha said in a hushed voice.

"He really doesn't like me, does he?"

"He's not…stranger-friendly…" I admitted.

"He isn't _anyone-_friendly, Kara. He doesn't even open up to you," Tasha argued.

I looked over to the swordsman in question, who'd almost definitely heard.

**He's used to being alone,** Noishe contributed. **He doesn't like other people involved – especially those that he considers children.**

"But that doesn't help anyone. If you choose to shun people when they try to help…"

"You'll be alone and lonely, even in a crowd of people," Tasha offered.

"You'll push away everyone who cares or may care about you, fooling yourself that you are a stronger person without them. You'll gradually lose the will to live," Tyr added.

Kratos almost looked over his shoulder, about to say something, but caught himself before he had a chance to speak, and kept on walking.

**Those who choose a life of solitude hide their pain in a glass box,** Aria recited – I knew the sentence was a Protozoan proverb.

I repeated Aria's words, adding that it was from her.

**Another proverb: while a meddler's heart may be in the right place, to many the meddler is seen as a mere annoyance.**

"That's not a proverb," I accused. "But I get the message. Kratos needs to change on his own."

"We aren't far from Sybak," Kratos called. "And Kara? I appreciate the concern, and…I'm working on it…"

"We're here to help."

* * *

Ack! occasionally 'un-bolds' my text. Not good for the Protozoans when they're speaking! Anyway, please review, please give theories on Tyr's parentage (there have been some brilliant ones - very close!)

I don't know whether I mentioned this last time, but just to make sure: I have put some links to pictures on my fanfiction profile showing roughly how Kara, Tasha and Tyr look. I did mention that they are made using TekTek, therefore they aren't exact (especially with clothes). If you want to check those out, feel free too.


	19. Sybak's Attack

On the day that I'm writing this, I had my first two lessons of Sociology! And guess what was the first thing we did? Feral children – children that had been raised by animals. Coincidence? Probably, but it got me inspired anyway. 

Mika? Nice try. Shame you're completely wrong, but nice try anyway!

I don't own Tales of Symphonia. A full list of what I do own: Noishe's _personality_, Arianrhod, Honohiko, Kara, Tasha, Tyr, the mysterious assassin of half-elves and two (possible) characters that make an appearance later.

Although, technically, I don't own Kara, Tasha or Tyr's _blood_ – that comes from their respective parents.

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Kara's POV

As we approached Sybak, I felt an increasing worry. I didn't want to not be able to hear the Protozoa again – it made me feel vulnerable. But because we didn't know what caused the 'magic block', I could lose my ability to hear them just through entering Sybak.

Noishe shared my thoughts, apparently. **Isn't there some way you can avoid going in there?**

"I don't think so. I need to help those half-elves – we can't let them die…Besides, at least we know it's only temporary," I whispered to Noishe.

Noishe whined.

"Please, don't give me that. How do you think I'd feel if I didn't go and someone died?"

Noishe reluctantly agreed.

It was dusk by the time we got within sight of the academic town, and just when I was wondering if there'd be another attack on the half-elves, I heard that song again, chillingly haunting now I knew what it did.

Concerned, I looked round to Tyr.

"Are you all right?"

He nodded. "I can hear it, but I can fight it. Before, it was making promises – I understood that, even if I couldn't understand the words. But now I know those promises are empty; that they're merely a trick to lure us to our graves!"

For a second I wondered what sort of person this attacker must be, to want to kill whole cities of half-elves – people like Tyr. Ordinary people. I shook off this thought – I could think about it later, but for now, people were in danger.

We dashed towards the city, the music getting louder as we ran – the lyrics pounding into our heads. But as annoying I felt the music was, I kept hoping it wouldn't stop, because I knew that when it did, the attack…no, the massacre, would come. So I pushed myself to go faster because I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let someone die because of me.

We made it to the gates in time – the music hadn't stopped. But even from here, I could already see the half-elves obliviously walking towards the gate. From our position, we couldn't step in at the last second as we had done last time – we could either protect them and be easily spotted and vulnerable, or we could stay hidden, but risk their lives.

If only we knew where our assailant was coming from…but he was nowhere to be seen. He would look conspicuous enough, if he was still cloaked in black and carried an axe everywhere. I kept my eyes and ears open, scanning the crowd for anything that may help.

It seemed like a nightmare – a crowd of slowly shifting people everywhere and knowing there's danger somewhere, but you just can't tell where…

I heard a small sound – a shuffled foot – but it was impossible to tell where it can from. It could even have been one of our own group or the half-elves making the noise.

However, Hiko gave an urgent shout of, **Look up!**

I looked upwards to see the cloaked man standing on the edge of a building's rooftop.

"Everyone, he's up there!" I hissed, pointing.

Kratos' attention was on the man in a flash, and already I could tell he was planning out the best way to defend the growing crowd of half-elves.

Suddenly, the music stopped, and Kratos tensed, ready for the inevitable attack. But it didn't seem to come. The man stood – his face still hidden – almost hesitant. Did he somehow sense we were here? Had he guessed that we'd worked out his plan, or at least, the crucial parts? Eventually, he must have decided we weren't going to show up, because he leapt off the roof, landing softly on the cobbled street below.

Kratos dashed out and began a short and ferocious fight with the axe wielder. Kratos was obviously faster, but whenever they locked weapons, it always seemed to be the axe wielder who bore down on Kratos, through sheer brute strength. Despite this, Kratos was obviously winning.

Just as it seemed the fight was won, they locked weapons once more. I saw – horrorstruck and frozen with fear – that the man's left hand left the axe for a moment, producing a small dagger. He stabbed the full length of the tiny blade into Kratos' arm.

Kratos instantly broke the lock – staggering backwards – and narrowly avoided being cleaved in two by the axe.

I ran forward, katana unsheathed, not realising I was screaming. I hardly knew where I was, that my two friends had their weapons unsheathed and had a similar intent to me – all I truly knew was that no one can kill my family; no one can even try. I will not have my family taken away from me again!

The three of us encircled him, slashing in a frenzy. Somehow, he managed to block the worst of the attacks with the large surface of his axe. He knew he was outnumbered, and ran backwards. I was torn between following him and making sure Kratos was all right. Eventually, my concern for Kratos won out, but before I could even glance down, I heard two hateful growls from the direction of the cloaked man.

A blur of green and a blur of blue streaked toward the man, growling. They pounced upon the man, biting.

"Noishe! Aria!" I shouted worriedly.

The man knocked them off and kept on running. Noishe seized the cloak in his teeth and refused to let it go. The cloak flew off, allowing the man to run free. I heard a click from besides me and looked at the piece of magi-technology in Tasha's hands that had mad the noise.

"It's a picture-taker," she explained. "So we know what the man looks like."

Noishe padded up, cloak still in his jaws. **I have his scent. It burns my nose.**

Noishe shook his head to try and get rid of the smell.

**He must have been carrying something with a very strong scent – it has a slight metal-like tang, but I've never come across it before.**

I repeated Noishe's words to the group.

"Wait, he's lived for how long? And he still doesn't know what this mineral is?" Tasha asked, awestruck.

**It shouldn't exist, **Noishe muttered, obviously sore about not being able to identify it.

"It is either incredibly rare, or a new creation," Kratos stated.

Once he'd brought my attention to him, I remembered Kratos had just been stabbed in the arm.

"Are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"Fine," he grunted, as he pulled the dagger out suddenly.

"Ouch," Tasha intoned quietly.

Kratos muttered a quick First Aid to slow the bleeding and close the wound.

"So, what do we do know?" Tyr asked.

"First we alert the local authorities incase this man tries to attack again. Then we study this picture that Natasha has taken."

So, this was how we ended up talking – or, I should say, arguing – with the local authorities.

"But people are being killed!" I shouted.

"Correction, half-elves – not people. No concern of ours. Besides, no one has died yet – we can't step in until we have a crime to accuse him of."

Kratos' voice dropped to a deadly hiss. "If this had been affecting humans, you'd be there as we speak, defending the people. My son regenerated the world for everyone, not just selfish, stuck-up humans, and I refuse to see that go to waste!"

Even Kratos at his most intimidating got nothing done. "I really am sorry," the law-enforcer said in the tone that was the furthest from apologetic that it was possible to go. "But there's nothing we can do. If you feel so strongly about this, I suggest you go and protect them yourselves."

I was visibly shaking with anger – how could anyone be so nonchalant about people dying?

Tasha cleared her throat and started to speak, calmly and quite confidently. "What would you estimate the ratio of half-elves to humans would be in this town, _sir?_" She asked.

"I wouldn't know, and I can't see how it would be relevant," the man said in a bored tone of voice.

"For every human in this town, there are three half-elves, due to Sybak being the largest research center in this region and the fact that until fifteen years ago, humans transported half-elves here and forced them to do work."

"Your point being?"

"If someone were to…accidentally let slip that the law-enforcers were failing to protect half-elves merely because of their blood, well…who knows what sort of riots you'd have to deal with?"

"Three to one, you say?" he asked, worried.

"Yes, although I'd expect it to be slightly more if there are humans that support the half-elves, or just don't want to get involved…" Tasha said slyly.

"When did you say this person was attacking?"

Once out of the small building, I congratulated Tasha.

"That was brilliant!"

She smiled slightly, trying not to look too pleased with herself. "I've always found people easy to manipulate – most of them are so shallow."

"Do you normally memorise the ratio of humans to half-elves in a town, then?" I asked skeptically.

"No, I only knew that because Aunty Raine and I were having a chat about the history of Sybak and it came up."

"And you remembered it from that?" Tyr wondered.

"I may've been a little inventive…" Tasha admitted.

"So, what do we do now?" I inquired.

"That picture could be really helpful," Tyr pointed out.

"We should be able to develop it in the university, if they let us."

We had a small wander to the university, where Tasha asked if we could borrow a 'picture-developing laboratory'.

"That sounds so posh," I teased. "La-bor-a-tory," I repeated, stressing each syllable.

Tasha buried her head in her hands. "I don't know you," she muttered, half-heartedly.

We got permission to use their 'dark room' as it was referred to – which stopped my attempt to embarrass Tasha using the word 'laboratory'.

I watched – somewhat confused – as Tasha removed a roll of tape from the picture taking device and dipped sheets of paper into different chemicals. At the end of this complicated process, she hung it up on what looked like a clothesline to dry.

Eventually, we had a full colour picture of the assailant. I was surprised at how…normal he looked – he was the sort of person that you could pass in the street and not think anything of it. He had ear-length brown hair arranged messily – as a result of the cloak being pulled off. His eyes were a muddy brown-green; nothing special about them. The only reason you would look twice at him was because of a small scar – more a nick than anything – resting on the top of his cheek, perilously close to his eyes.

"Maybe we should get this picture to the authorities," I suggested.

"A lot of help that would do," Tyr snorted. "They don't care about us…"

"Then, what can we do? As I see it, we have two options – either track this man down, or try to find out more about him."

**If he took to the air at any point, then I'd lose him, and we'd have wasted time. Besides, there is so much we don't know – how he's depriving the half-elves of their magic and how he's luring them, to begin with, **Noishe reasoned.

I repeated Noishe's opinion, which was received well in the group.

"But _who_ would know?" Tyr asked.

I looked down, thoughtful. When Mizuho was still standing, they used to be famous for finding out…anything…

"I can call in on an old friend," Kratos stated as a way of answering.

I looked up, startled. "Old" coming out of Kratos' mouth meant about a hundred times older than a normal person's view of old.

"Who?"

We didn't get an answer, merely Kratos walking off.

"Does he always have to be so…secretive?" Tyr muttered darkly.

"I guess it's on a need-to-know basis, and we didn't need to know."

Two days later, we still hadn't gotten an answer out of Kratos.

"Where are we going?" We asked in unison, not expecting an answer more than:

"Down here."

"Why?"

"To see how far it is."

We all sighed, and I could tell Kratos was enjoying keeping us in the dark.

"Honestly, though, where _are_ we going?" I asked.

"Are you going to keep this up all the way?"

After a small group discussion about whether we should stop this and start a chorus of "are we there yet?", I answered, "We are going to keep asking until we get a straight answer. So, where are we going?"

"Down here," was the only reply.

Noishe wasn't helping either – I could tell he knew where we were headed, but refused to say.

Every time I asked, all I got was: **Kratos will tell you in his own good time. You'll get there when you get there.**

To make things worse, every time I contemplated how constructive the last couple of days were, I realised that I'd never talked to Kratos so much. Pity it wasn't anything meaningful...

* * *

Minor dedication: to Mum and 'Step-dad', who constantly give the "down here" answer and thus provided the inspiration for a tiny bit of the chapter. 

Review, please! Any theories on Tyr's lineage are greatly appreciated – quite a few people have got one parent right, but no one's got both so far… (it will be more obvious in chapters to come!)


	20. Bonus Chapter, The Nightmare

Just a little bonus chapter! Dedicated to Alaia Skyhawk, because I was reading Prequel to a Restoration when I thought of this. I recommend you read it, too! I also don't own Tales of Symphonia!

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Kara's POV

On the night of the second day we were traveling, I was fast asleep, until I woke from a nightmare. I'd dreamt that I was one of the half-elves being lured to their death. I could see me shuffling forwards, unable to move or shout or anything. Then, a black, shadowy axe came down – shocking me awake.

I lay there a while, calming down, getting over the nightmare. I'd never been really affected by nightmares, because the whole time, somehow, I just knew it wasn't real. But this nightmare…even if it wasn't happening to me, it could be happening to thousands…millions of people if we didn't find a way to stop it.

I'd been awake for ten minutes, perhaps longer, when I heard a strange sound. It was like a fitful whine crossed between a bark. I crept to the source of the noise – Noishe – quietly. Every so often, his paws twitched in his sleep. It looked like I wasn't the only one to have had nightmares that night.

I stroked the soft fur on Noishe's head slowly, making a soothing shush noise quietly. Noishe leapt awake suddenly – his jaw set in a slight snarl, exposing his wolf-like canines.

Despite knowing that Noishe wouldn't intentionally harm me, I was scared. I sat stock-still for a moment, catching a terrified breath.

Eventually, I plucked up the courage to ask what was wrong.

Noishe calmed instantly, seeing me. **Nightmare, **he explained gruffly.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

For a while, Noishe seemed uncomfortable – he didn't want to explain, but knew it was in his best interests. Eventually, he spoke. **In…in the Kharlan War, humans rounded us up in our thousands. We…we were forced to fight, sometimes just humans, but most of the time… The battlefields were alive with the mournful cries of protozoa on both sides. And there was nothing we could do…it was horrific.**

I nodded mutely, knowing the terrible things humans are capable of. I'd read a book on the conditions they'd suffered and knew that it was only because of us – stupid, selfish, greedy humans – that the protozoa had died out.

"How did you survive?" I asked gently.

**Kratos rescued me. The other heroes helped, but… Anyway, I wasn't the only one they rescued, but the others… **Noishe sighed sorrowfully. **They were wounded too badly, and couldn't recover. One of the ones who died – Layla – she was close to me. We'd grown up together. And all I could do was watch her die in front of my eyes…**

"Noishe…" I tried to offer some words of comfort, but couldn't. I just wasn't good at comforting people.

**Sorry, did I wake you?**

"No, I was already awake. I had a nightmare, too. Nothing near as bad though."

**I see. You'd better go back to sleep.**

"Yeah. Goodnight, Noishe," I headed back to my pallet.

I had just about gotten back in bed, when Noishe added, **Kara, I still miss her. I still miss Layla.**

"You'll always miss her, Noishe. Like I'll always miss Mom and Dad. We just have to live with it…"

Just before sleep reclaimed me, I swore I heard a sound from where Kratos was taking night watch. But I knew it couldn't be Kratos. The sound, whoever it was, was _crying_…

* * *

It's up to your personal opinion who – if anyone was crying at the end there. It could've been Kara's sleep-deprived mind playing tricks on her, it could have been Tyr or Tasha…or, it could have been Mr. Emotionless himself...I'm leaving it open to interpretation. 

Please review, it makes me write little extra chapters like this!


	21. Information

Hi guys! I appreciate you getting me this far and your incredible patience with chapters. I could fill this space with excuses about homework and schoolwork, all of which would be true, but that'd be complaining. 

So instead, I don't own Tales of Symphonia.

* * *

Kara's POV

Kratos' lack of a straight answer didn't stop us from asking where we were going for four days straight. Eventually, we stopped in the middle of the desert.

"Is this it?" Tyr asked incredulously.

"We've been walking for days, just to get to a hot, icky desert?" Tasha inquired.

Kratos just strode off through the soft sand, leaving us to stumble after him. Around a large, rocky growth we trudged, to see a huge concrete building.

"_This_ is what we've been walking for days to get to," Kratos stated.

"Well, what is it?" Tyr asked; forcibly unimpressed.

Tasha spoke up, awed. "It's the old Renegade base, isn't it? Aunty Raine said a bit about it."

We entered after ringing. The interior was cool from air conditioning – a stark contrast to the stifling heat outside. Our footsteps made a noise on the polished, tiled floor, which resounded around the hallways. A half-elf with bright turquoise hair strode down the hallway, cape billowing out behind him.

"Yuan," Kratos acknowledged.

"Kratos." For a second, the man looked incredibly embarrassed, then said, "Look, I never really had a chance to apologise for the whole blackmail thing…"

I looked at the man in astonishment. "Blackmail?"

Tasha came to the rescue. "How good is your history?"

In the conversation that followed, I discovered that although Noishe had been accurate with the history he had taught me, he'd omitted a few details…mostly concerning the fact that Yuan had blackmailed my grandfather by using Dad…

Before I could shout out and start hating Yuan, the reason was explained, and while I didn't like it, I understood Yuan's viewpoint. He was just trying to help the world. Besides, he was trying to put things right by apologising – that had to count for something, didn't it?

"Anyway, Yuan," Kratos announced, pulling the picture Tasha took earlier out of a pocket. "We need some information. Can you tell us anything about this person?"

Yuan took the picture, regarding it carefully. "As far as I can tell, he's fully human."

Tyr tapped a foot impatiently.

"This is the person who has been attacking places where half-elves are known to inhabit?"

"Yes," Tasha answered, exasperated.

"I don't recognise him, but I can scan the picture into the computer's database."

"What good will that do?" I wondered.

"The computer can compare his facial features and structure against every record in the database. We salvaged the records from the Desian computers as well as already having our own records, so there's just about a eighty per cent chance that either he, his parents or a very close relation is on here."

"How do you get that?" Tyr asked.

"The Desians kept records of every host body they ever captured. Since they only spent around twenty years in each 'world' as it was back then, they had quite a large range of data from both Sylvarant and Tethe'alla. However, the search may take several hours, maybe even overnight. I suggest you make yourselves comfortable. I can trust you won't mess around with any machines?"

We nodded earnestly.

"Then you may explore. I'll send someone to find you if we get a match."

We excitedly set off to explore the base.

Kratos' POV

Once the children were gone, I had a chance to ask Yuan something.

"The boy, Tyr, does he seem familiar to you?"

Yuan seemed slightly unnerved – either he'd noticed the urgency in my voice, or he'd noticed the same thing.

"He does. But I can't put my finger on it. Who were his parents?"

"I don't know. He's an orphan – apparently both his parents died roughly twelve years ago. He has no memory of them."

"It's…unsettling," Yuan grudgingly admitted. "I'll run his picture through the database too – we make get some answers."

"How will you get his picture?"

"The base is rigged with cameras. If he hasn't been caught at least twenty times on film already it'll be a rare occurrence."

Kara's POV

Tyr, Tasha and I spent some time chatting as we wandered around. Noishe and Aria were trailing behind, on their absolute best behavior – they didn't want to accidentally break anything.

I was halfway through a sentence when a voice, powerful and echoing, cut through the conversation. It was strange – completely different to when the Protozoans speak.

'_Children of heroes_,' it addressed.

"Tasha, Tyr, you can hear this, right?" I asked nervously.

They nodded, equally as put out. We all could sense that there was no harm in the voice, but something – we weren't sure what, exactly – made us apprehensive.

'_You will end much suffering, but at what price_?'

"Speak sense," Tyr snapped, slightly hostile.

'_Kara_,' it said warmly.

"You know my name?"

It chuckled. '_So clichéd. Yes, Kara, I know your name. I met your father once. I need you – all of you – to find me._'

"But how? Where are you?"

'_I can't say – that would be directly altering the course of the future. Ask Yuan about your weapons._'

"I don't understand: how could that possibly help?"

'_Think of the manner in which they were given to you. You will think of a way._'

And just like that, the voice left – ironically, without ever truly being there to begin with.

We quickly decided to find Yuan and Kratos again, and rushed towards the computer room. As we entered, Yuan guiltily looked up from a computer console, minimizing the current task the computer was performing. We paid it no mind, though – the voice that had spoke to us seemed urgent.

"Yuan, you know something about our weapons, right?" I asked in a rushed sentence.

"Apart from the fact that Lloyd made them, we mean. Like, _why _did he make them, and how did he know where to put them?" Tasha clarified.

This question caught Kratos' attention acutely, and we knew that one way or another, we'd get an answer.

Yuan sighed under the gaze of us four, "Kara, after the Regeneration journey, your mother and father went on a journey to gather all the Exspheres in the land. We aren't completely sure of what happened, but they were in the Meltokio region when Lloyd vanished for two days. Naturally, everyone was worried, but when he appeared back safe and sound, he seemed all right. He wouldn't say a word about where he'd been, except to Sheena, and she kept that secret too. However, he was heard to say something about special weapons at the time."

"And after that, Dad made our weapons…" I concluded.

"But that still leaves so much unsolved…like how did he know where we'd meet?" Tyr wondered.

"I can't be of much more help," Yuan stated apologetically. "However, the results for the half-elf persecutor have arrived."

"Really? Who is it?"

"The Desians never captured him. His data isn't on file."

"No…" I whispered fearfully.

I knew that unless we got some information we'd never beat him.

"However, the database has found three close matches. Rilka Moore, Daerin Moore and Balas Moore. It would appear that Rilka and Daerin were the parents of this human, and Balas was his brother."

We all knew the extra meaning of the past tense that Yuan was using – they were almost certainly dead.

"How do we know their relation?"

"The Desians kept meticulous records," Kratos interrupted.

"Indeed. They kept accounts of the attacks they made on villages and filed them in the parts that were relevant for each person. Of course, in some cases it can mean incredibly short descriptions. This account reads: 'On the whole, the Moore family was captured with relative ease, however, a young boy, nearing 12, managed to evade capture. We are unconcerned – he escaped into a known monster nest. He could not have survived.'"

"Except he did, didn't he? Do we have a name? Anything else at all?"

"We do have some security camera footage of the woman, I'll retrieve it now," Yuan said as he clicked some buttons.

Soon, the screen displayed a small, dark room with a weeping woman in a corner. Faint, but still audible, she whispered something. "Barbaras…wherever you are…stay safe…my son…"

The screen closed itself automatically.

"So," I said shakily, trying to banish the image of the cell from my mind. "His name is Barbaras…"

Tasha contributed: "We know his motive too. His whole family and hometown were destroyed by half-elves…no wonder he wants revenge."

I looked down at the floor. Why didn't I feel the same way? After all, I'd had the same experience – at an even younger age than him. Yet, I didn't hate half-elves. Why?

Noishe nosed my hand as if sensing my thoughts. **You have a stronger heart than him.**

"Huh?"

**It takes a strong person to forgive, while a weak person would seek revenge.**

"Thank you, Noishe. And if that's true, you have a strong heart too. You didn't seek revenge either."

He shook his head. **I was close to giving up altogether, neither forgiving nor seeking revenge. You were the only thing keeping me going. You were young, and needed help, whether you realised it or not. My heart isn't strong, it was just my dutiful nature doing what needed to be done.**

"Noishe…you _are _strong-hearted. You just won't admit it."

Yuan interrupted with, "Does this happen often?"

Both Tasha and Tyr nodded.

Kratos added, "And while normally, we'd let her carry on, we now need to figure out what to do next."

"Well, to me it sounds obvious," I input. "We have to find out why Dad made these weapons. So, we search for the place where Dad disappeared."

"Seems logical. Yuan, may we borrow some Rheairds?"

"Of course."

As we left, Yuan called Kratos back for a moment, telling us to go ahead. We wondered what it was, but with both of them glaring at us, we decided to work it out later.

Kratos' POV

I knew from Yuan's tone of voice that it was about Tyr.

"The computer has finished checking the database."

"And?"

"Too many matches. The hair completely throws the system. I tried refining the search, but then I got no matches whatsoever."

"So, either he looks almost nothing like his parents, or his parents aren't on the database?"

"That's how it would appear."

"It was worth a try," I muttered, striding out the room.

* * *

I know, groans all round, right? After all, they got _so _close to finding out Tyr's lineage…but didn't. Well, believe it or not, there is a clue in this chapter, but it is fairly disguised.

I seem to have a habit of singing in Japanese – right now, I'm listening to a piano only track of 'White Night, True Light', the theme tune for D.N.Angel, and am able to sing the Japanese words – without being able to speak Japanese properly!

Anyway, expect the next chapter fairly soon if all goes well…and I don't get snowed in by course/homework!


	22. Setsunai

More surprises in store this chapter! Although I really shouldn't post this – I was disgusted with the amount of reviews last time, and everyone who didn't and has no intention of reviewing that chapter should feel ashamed of themselves. It's such a simple thing, it makes someone's day brighter and as long as you log in, I guarantee I'll reply to your review. (I don't like using someone's e-mail address, it's my way of respecting someone's privacy, if that makes sense.) I don't own Tales of Symphonia. (Has anyone seen the OVA? It's brilliant!)

* * *

Kara's POV

"I'm going to be flying on _that?_" I shouted, pointing at the Rheaird. "But it's so small…I'm going to fall off, I know I am. And what about Noishe and Aria?"

We were standing in the hangar of the Renegade base, and I had just seen my first Rheaird.

"I dare say they can get there before we will," Kratos reasoned.

**They don't call us as fast as the wind for nothing, **Noishe added proudly.

"But they look so…so flimsy…"

"I assure you, they are extremely reliable," Kratos said.

No matter what excuse I could think of, I knew they'd be just that: excuses. I wasn't sure why I didn't want to fly on the Rheairds; perhaps it was the thought of trusting a machine to keep both its own weight and your own airborne. Eventually, it was my own sense of duty that forced me to ride the machines – I didn't want any half-elves to get killed because of my stubbornness.

We were skimming the bottom of the white, fluffy clouds within five minutes.

"It's cold!" I yelped, feeling the icy water vapour that made up the cloud.

Tyr seemed right at home in the air; he turned sharply into the cloud by leaning to the right, despite my protests of "Don't!" and emerged, soaking wet yet grinning, five seconds later.

The water made Tyr's hair stick flat against his head, which looked a bit weird, having known him with slightly unruly hair. Tasha, although not as cocky as Tyr, was still comfortable at our high altitude – she was smiling with the wind causing her blonde locks to flow out behind her.

And then there was me; clutching the handles so hard my knuckles were turning white, and my fingers were numb from the cold. I looked warily down at the ground to the gently sloping hillocks and meadows below. At one point, I think we skirted around Sybak, but it was impossible to tell – to me, it was too small, but maybe we were just _really _high up.

The one good thing I will admit about using the Rheairds is that I was expecting a traveling time of a day, at least, but we managed the journey in under two hours. We landed in the vast fields of the Meltokio continent, looking around.

"I wonder…how do we trace Dad's footsteps?" I pondered aloud.

"Kara, perhaps we should set up camp," Kratos said quietly, but there was no mistaking the authority in his voice.

"Okay," I very reluctantly agreed – I felt it was urgent to find out about our weapons. And there was the fact of the mysterious voice we heard at the Renegade base…he, asked us to find him, and this was his clue. Strangly, there was no doubt in my mind that the voice had been male.

I slept lightly that night, and seemed to wake up every five minutes. Eventually, when the sky was at its darkest, I decided that I just could not get to sleep and went for a little wander. Although I managed somehow to sneak away without Kratos hearing, Noishe silently padding up to me told me he'd heard me.

"I guess you're coming too, huh?" I whispered.

**Like I'd let you wander alone, **he retorted. **And don't worry; I won't try to talk you out of a nighttime walk either. I heard you tossing and turning. Couldn't sleep?**

I nodded. "You know I've never been a heavy sleeper, but still, normally, I actually get _some _sleep. And tonight, when I _did_ sleep, I had the weirdest dreams – about this snake that wasn't a snake, it kept changing what it looked like, but I still thought of it as a snake…I can't really explain it. And there was this dog-like…thing, I'm not sure what it was, but it was this really deep, dark shade of violet fur. But the clearest one was one of a half-elven lady. She said, 'I will show you the way,' and she was wearing this long linen dress and had…"

**Shiny silver eyes and lilac hair that reached far down her back and was so light that the smallest breeze made it flutter into the wind?**

"Noishe, you had the same dream too?"

**No, she's over there, just beyond that tree.**

I saw her by edging around the lone tree quietly.

"She's exactly like my dream, Noishe. This is getting strange," I muttered.

A dark shadow fluttered down in front of me and I leapt backwards, tripping over a twig and landing with an ungraceful crash on the long grass. I scolded myself for making a noise, I _knew _the twig was there and shouldn't have tripped over it. I shouldn't have been alarmed by the shadow in the first place – it was probably just a leaf falling.

And now, I'd definitely warned the woman of my presence, as I could hear her light but audible footsteps on the grass. I sprang to my feet, dusting myself off quickly.

When the woman saw me, she smiled softly. "I believe you are the one I was told to look out for. I wasn't told of how…noisy you are, though," she said, hiding a larger smile behind her hand.

Now I was thoroughly embarrassed. A Mizuho born and bred person like myself making such a stupid mistake…

"You are Kara Aurion, right?" the woman asked quietly.

"I am," I whispered, not bothering to ask how she knew my name. After all, I knew what she'd looked like before I'd even met her, and stranger things have happened.

"My name is Setsunai. I've been instructed to tell you that what you're looking for is that cave over there. If you tell your grandfather it's along the western coast, north from Shadow's temple but south of Gnome's, you should find it easily tomorrow morning."

"Who told you to wait here for me and give me that hint? Not that I'm not grateful, but…I need to know."

"You'll find out soon enough," Setsunai sighed. "It's amazing how much like your father you are."

"Really? No one…ever…says that." I gave a weak attempt at a laugh but it came out choked. "Most people are just amazed that I have two brain cells to rub together…"

"Soon, there will come a time when you will see just how much you take after him. He was, truly, an amazing person."

"You met him?"

"I did. It was before you were born, and the world was newly regenerated. I'd been cast out of Meltokio when I was a child and…" she coughed suddenly, and I was aware she'd almost given away something she wasn't meant to. "What I mean is I was just older than you when I met your father. I suppose it was quite obvious that I had no family worth speaking of; what else would I be doing in the scrubland after dark? Well, he was kind, even though it was obvious I was a half-elf and he made sure I was alright and I had to assure him five times before he believed me."

"Sounds like Dad," I murmured affectionately. He was always doing things like that, even at home. He was convinced that no one should be made to suffer.

"He camped in this area and I went back to…well, I went back to the…kind souls who were looking after me. I told them about him, and they wanted to see him too. It was a matter of great importance. So, the next day, I led him to the place I was staying and they talked…"

Although I trusted Setsunai, she seemed to be increasingly obscure with the facts. She didn't mention names – I noticed she didn't even say whether her adopters were human, half-elven or elven, and she didn't say where she was or had been staying either. Just as I was to voice these questions, she turned to leave.

"It's late and you'd better get some sleep, Kara. And don't worry, in time…" she paused, smiling contently. "In time, everything will become clear."

Setsunai faded into the darkness, muttering something under her breath that I couldn't quite catch.

"Noishe, what did she say?" I asked in a hushed tone.

**She said: "Since when did I start saying such clichés? And I hope I wasn't too obvious with the time remark – if she guesses, Maluhr won't be too happy…"**

I wandered back to camp with more questions than I'd started with, but miraculously, fell asleep in an instant.

* * *

By the way, Setsunai is the Japanese word for sad, if anyone's wondering. Maluhr…well, that's easier found using a German dictionary (points at self, the nutter doing GCSE German). I'll give you the definition next time…if I remember.

Originally this was meant to be part of the next chapter, so apologies for shortness, but I realised this would have to be on its own (aww, poor lonely chapter!)

Anyway, review, please! My life's a little depressing at the moment, so any heartwarming reviews I keep in my inbox to cheer me up!


	23. Message: Stressed Authoress

Okay, I have got one whole chapter ready and waiting. It's actually quite long – eight pages. But, I refuse to post it until I get at least five reviews for last chapter. I feel sorry for Anarin and WingedWithFieryMana, who _have _reviewed the last two chapters, and I hope they'll forgive me, but this is ridiculous.

Ten people have read the chapter, and honestly, it doesn't take long to write a note saying: 'it was good' or 'it was a pile of dung'… I'd prefer it if you could write something more original, but we'll take this one step at a time.

So, step 1), go to chapter 22 and hit the purple button that says review.

Step 2) is slightly trickier, you type (using those hostile looking keys on the keyboard), hopefully getting words appearing on the screen. Then you press 'submit'

Was that so hard?

(By the way, I hope my sarcasm doesn't hurt anyone, but I am really annoyed that only two people are reviewing and I'm buried six foot deep in stress. So review, and I'll take away this message, and pretend it never existed, okay?)


	24. Crystals, Shadows, Time and Death

Birthday update! As in, it's my birthday, so to mark the occasion, I'll update. Also, sorry if I don't respond to any reviews promptly – for some reason, they aren't coming through my e-mail, and I have to go on the site (which meant I had two more reviews than I thought I had!) 

As always, guesses on the storyline help me a lot, so guess away, and there is a lot of Tyr's parentage in this chapter…

I don't own anything mentioned in this Fanfiction with the exception of: Kara, Tasha, Tyr, Setsunai, Maluhr??? (named this chapter) and Barbaras.

* * *

Kara's POV

True to Setsunai's word, Kratos found the cave easily enough, although he questioned the information. I said I'd got it from a dream – I didn't want him to know that I'd sneaked off last night.

We'd hardly gone two steps into the cave before my vision went completely black.

"It's pitch black in here – has anyone got a light?" I asked.

I heard Tasha rummage around in her bag and a click, but nothing happened.

"My torch doesn't work? But it was fine last night…" she muttered, slightly annoyed.

"We are within a close range of the Temple of Darkness; perhaps this darkness is magical, as it is within Shadow's temple," Kratos stated.

I heard Tyr casting Fire Ball, but even that didn't light the darkness.

"Well, you can explain the dark, but what about this glowing thread thing hanging in mid-air?" Tyr wondered.

"What? I can't see a thing," I said, now thoroughly puzzled.

"Me neither."

"But…it's right in front of us. How can you not see it?"

**I can see it too, **Hiko chirped from his perch on my head.

"One would assume that we'd follow the thread," Kratos pointed out.

"That's right," came a calm, familiar voice from the darkness.

"Who's that?" Tasha asked anxiously.

"Setsunai. This…is my home."

"We're sorry for intruding -" Kratos began, but was soon cut off.

"Don't worry, I invited you, in a way. Anyway, you'll find it hard to get through if you don't trust the half-elf boy or me. You should link hands."

I managed to find Tyr in the darkness and held his hand, reaching out my own for anyone else to hold onto.

"I can see her," Tyr whispered. "Not her, physically, but her mana signature. She's a half-elf, but there's something different about her mana signature… I can't put my finger on it."

"She is a bit strange in person – really quiet and…well, she makes her home _here, _that explains it all, doesn't it?"

Now that I thought back to last night, she had really pale skin – it had almost glowed in the moonlight. She must not have come out very often then, or perhaps only at nighttime…

We wandered through the cave slowly, one footstep at a time, a long string of us following Tyr.

"You must be wondering how we can see our way but you can't, right Kara?" Setsunai asked partway though our journey.

"A little," I admitted, concentrating on my footsteps.

"It's because we can see mana – there's a string of pure mana leading a way through here. It's a precaution to stop…certain people from entering. Most humans, if they did want to make their way through here, they'd get completely lost. The road forks off at different opportunities, so this whole cave is designed to make you go round in circles."

"So in other words, it's a labyrinth?" Tasha asked.

"No, it's a maze. A labyrinth only has one path, and never forks off."

"Oh."

We walked on in silence for a little longer, before…

"I can see something!" I exclaimed.

'Something' was a small cluster of crystals imbedded into the wall of the cave. They gave off a pale blue glow, which dimly lit the tunnel. The further we walked, the more numerous the crystals were.

"You're heading towards the place with the most crystals," Setsunai called.

I wondered why she was shouting; she wasn't that far apart. Then, I realised I could hear a rush of roaring water, and she had to shout over it. The tunnel opened up into a huge cavern, which reached both high above and low below us. A thin, white snake of water fell from a hole on each side of the cavern, to land in a deep pool below our walkway. We were standing on a thin strip of rock, suspended above the cavern, with crystals imbedded into either side, lighting up the edges of the walkway.

"Wow…it's so beautiful!"

Setsunai nodded and smiled. "I come here a lot. But we're going a bit further. There's someone who wants to meet you."

She glided off before we could ask who wanted to see us – although, we knew we'd get a cryptic answer anyway.

After the waterfall cavern, we were back in a tunnel again, occasionally coming across stalagmites and stalactites, although, I wasn't sure which were which. Round a corner – marked by a small bowl-shape that had been carved out of the stone by centuries of dripping water and currently held the clear, glassy liquid – and a few more steps…

Another cavern, although smaller than the waterfall carven. There was hardly any bare rock – every inch seemed to be covered with the beautiful crystals. There was a small circular platform in the center, engraved with some symbols I couldn't read or understand.

"Aunty Raine would love to be able to decipher those," Tasha whispered, nodding towards the symbols.

Ignoring us, Setsunai spoke, her clear, calm and somewhat mystical voice echoing around the cavern loudly. "Lord of Time, Maluhr. I have brought before you the ones you have asked for."

A bright light shone from the center podium – almost blinding us after the near darkness we'd just been in.

'_Setsunai, you are too formal. But thank you.'_

I squinted towards the source of the light, making out a dog-like figure. It was far bigger than a normal dog, closer to a wolf. The eyes were the first thing to be clearly visible; they were green and cat-like. Two thin strips of ribbon fluttered from around his neck, a pale blue at their base, but getting gradually deeper until they ended at a navy blue. Now that the light was fading, I could see the 'wolf's' fur – an attractive shade of deep violet.

'_Welcome, Kara, Tasha, Tyr…and why is Kratos here?'_ he wondered with just a hint of annoyance.

"Maluhr, surely, you knew…" Setsunai said nervously.

_'I can't be expected to constantly gaze into the future merely to spot the finer details…Kratos, I request that you leave.'_

Kratos seemed stunned by the request. "By what authority do you bid me to leave?" he asked, tone brimming with hostility.

_'By the authority of the Summon Spirit of Time. You, Kratos Aurion are in my domain and as such are either forced to comply with my requests or in a position to challenge me. Do you wish to challenge me?'_

"Impossible. Another Summon Spirit…I had theorized that there was an opposite to Maxwell, and an opposite to Origin, but never had I guessed…"

_'Kratos, please leave. You may wait for Kara and her friends in the cavern of the eternal waterfall.'_

As Kratos left, I asked, "Is it really an eternal waterfall?"

_'Kara…nothing lasts forever. Nothing is eternal. Just remember that.'_

"Hmm… Why did you get Kratos to leave?" I asked, changing from the depressing topic.

_'This conversation is for your ears only – he isn't involved.'_

"So…what did you need to tell us?" Tyr asked, slightly suspicious.

Another creature appeared in a flash of white light.

'_Someone is abusing the power of death,'_ it spat angrily.

Maluhr nodded towards the still glowing figure. _'This is Marw_ (A/N: pronounced Ma-ruh). _She always has liked dramatic entrances.'_

Marw was a silver snake, pretty simple looking in my opinion.

'_I very rarely get a chance to make a dramatic entrance,'_ she said, curling up her long body contently.

'Marw is the Summon Spirit of Death. It is her duty to appear to the dying and guide them to the next world.'

'_So, I'll see you all again soon,'_ she practically purred.

Maluhr shook his head to indicate it was only a joke. _'A few years ago, the world had just been regenerated, but I already knew that it wouldn't stay peaceful.'_

'_It never does,'_ Marw muttered, shaking her serpentine head.

_'When Kara's father passed by, I took a chance and invited him in. I try to keep my existence a secret as far as possible – I would hate for my power, the power over time, to be in any human's hands, let alone someone who'd misuse it.'_

"Like Mithos did to the other Summon Spirits?" Tasha asked.

_'Exactly. Origin was so distraught when he found out the full consequences of what he'd done, especially when I told him it wouldn't end for four millennia… In any case, I spoke to your father, and told him that another trouble was coming to the world, yet he would not be able to help directly. However, he could make things easier for the ones who could help.'_

Knowing where this conversation was going, I whispered gravely, "Us."

Maluhr nodded. _'Your three weapons have a power unlike any other ever made. They were commissioned by the Summon Spirit of Time; made with the strongest metal in the world, Elven alloy; made by the Dwarven taught skills of your father; imbued with charms to strengthen them, even willing souls of the dead entered these swords. Look after them.'_

"S…souls of the dead?" Tyr spluttered, staring at his glaive with wide eyes.

_'Marw entered the spirit world to find volunteers that were willing to help end cruelty to half-elves. You'd be amazed at the sheer numbers that volunteered, even though it'd mean being stranded in this world forever. Kara, your grandmother resides within your blade. Tasha, your grandmother – Zelos' mother – volunteered for you. She despised half-elves in life, then realised her error in death and wished to atone. And Tyr, your father lives in your blade.'_

"My…Dad? I can barely remember him… I don't look anything like him, do I?" Tyr wondered sadly.

Maluhr considered him carefully. _'You have his eyes…and his face shape. Your hair is your mother's, though.'_

"So…Dad wants me to do this…"

'_How could he refuse when it can help end the suffering of so many half-elves?'_

Marw lifted her head lazily. _'He had a message for you. He's sorry, for everything he's done. He knows apologising can never be enough, but it's all he can do.'_

"It's weird…I feel like I know my Mom and Dad, yet…I can't even remember their names…"

Maluhr spoke softly. _'You remember your surname?'_

Tyr nodded.

_'Then there are many people who can tell you at least one of your parents. But, do you really want to know?'_

"Of course I do," he snapped, frowning.

_'You never know how people are going to react, though. And your surname…it has a lot of…baggage.'_

"My parents weren't liked? Big surprise there; they were half-elves."

'_Well, don't say I didn't warn you,'_ Maluhr said lazily. _'However, now is not the time. Wasn't there a reason for coming here? To ask me something, perhaps?'_

"Oh, right!" I said quickly, suddenly remembering why we were here. "Could you tell us about this Barbaras Moore, please?"

_'Most of his story you know – the Desian's raided his hometown when he was twelve and took his whole family to the ranch – only he managed to escape. He learnt the full horror of what went on in the ranches, knew that his family was dead and proceeded to hate half-elves ever since. He spent a while coming up with a plan to kill all the half-elves while leaving the other races alone.'_

"But how?"

_'He discovered an element that has the exact opposite chemical properties as Aionis. Aionis, as you probably know, gives people without elven blood the ability to use magic, so this new element, Osmosium…'_

"It affects people with elven blood…it takes their magic away," Tasha gasped.

'_Quite. This makes them vulnerable, as I'm sure you can imagine. He mines it in large quantities using half-elven slaves…'_ Maluhr trailed off, disgusted.

"Where? Where is he? Where is he getting this from?" I asked desperately.

_'Toize valley mine. But there's something else you must know. He lures the half-elves…you must have heard the song by now…'_

"We have. It goes on about equality, but it's all empty promises…what did it say exactly?" I frowned in thought.

Tyr spoke in a hollow, ragged voice. "It was: 'Meet with your fate, the next life comes closer.'"

He shuddered, and I couldn't blame him. He had almost died that night and he wouldn't have known until the axe was imbedded in his neck.

Maluhr nodded, eyes half-closed. _'It's an ancient Elven invention, from when they first came to this planet. They realised this planet was vast and that they may need to meet up again if ever they got lost, or they were all needed. They made this to call to people with Elven blood in their veins. However, Barbaras tweaked it to target only half-elves…'_

"He's a sort of warped genius," I noted.

'_Which is why I'd advise great caution,'_ Maluhr said wisely.

Setsunai, who'd been lurking in a corner this whole time, suddenly drew our attention to herself. "I believe it's time you left…your grandfather must be worried, Kara."

"Yes, we'd better go," I agreed. "Thank you, Maluhr, and Marw. Now we can get Barbaras…"

Marw lifted her silver head to my eye level – no mean feat and rather impressive looking, a 'standing' silver snake – before she spoke. _'I will take great pleasure in escorting that miserable excuse for a human to the next life, like he planned for so many others. Please, grant me that favour.'_

"What? To kill him?" I looked down, avoiding eye contact. "I don't want to kill anyone…what will that achieve?"

'_It will end the current danger the half-elves are in. It will stop it from ever happening again. And you can't change fate – Barbaras is going to die,'_ Maluhr said softly.

I was still undecided. "But…Marw, I can't promise I will, but…I promise to try…for everything he's done, and for all that he would do…I'll try…"

'_Then that's all I ask, child.'_

As we made camp that night, Tasha, Tyr and I exchanged meaningful glances, yet couldn't say anything for fear of Kratos overhearing. I was horrified that to end this I would have to take someone's life. I searched deep within my soul. Could I really do it?

* * *

No doubt there will be quite a few correct guesses on Tyr's parents now, although I will never say if they are right… 

I have to say this: the element 'Osmosium' during planning was always known as Anti-Aionis, and it was only after a Biology lesson featuring osmosis that I came up with a proper name. And now, I also realise it could be taken as a reference to Final Fantasy's osmose ability, which drains MP.

Anyway, please review – it anyone else has cracked any of my names, it's worth mentioning.


End file.
